Melody Barnes: I Am Iron Man
by JanaeSpecter14
Summary: Melody was normal. She wants to be a normal college student and not be followed around by the paparazzi from her uncle Tony's role as genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. But when her uncle goes missing from a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan, Melody may never have hope of a normal life again. Secrets come pouring out and she's falling for a guy who has a hidden agenda
1. Just the Beginning

"_**Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind? Can he walk at all, or if he moves will he fall? Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? We'll just pass him there. Why should we even care?"**_

_**-Iron Man by Black Sabbath**_

* * *

Melody sat at her table looking around frantically for Tony. He was nowhere to be seen, and the slideshow about explaining all of his accomplishments and life before Stark Industries was coming to a close.

She looked behind her, straight at Obadiah and he tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she didn't buy into it. She knew her uncle and by now he was probably playing craps. Rhodey was walking up the stairs of the stage and Melody leaned back into her seat, letting out an angry breath. This would be interesting. "As liaison to Stark Industries, I have had the unique privilege of serving a true patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor." He paused with such a grateful smile on his face making Melody feel bad for him. Rhodey was probably the best friend Tony had and he treated him like dirt most of the time. "Ladies and gentleman, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark."

The room erupted in applause and Rhodey began to search the crowd with his eyes. When he found Melody and Obadiah they just shook their heads at him and Rhodey knew, just like Melody had, that he was playing craps somewhere in this casino. Melody turned around to look at Obadiah, not knowing what to do when he took charge for her, standing up from his seat and offering his hand to her, she smiled at the audience, knowing how to put on a good show as she wrapped her arm through his and the two made their way to the stage. "I don't know what to do." She whispered to him with her mouth still locked into a smile.

"Follow my lead." He whispered back as they began to climb the stairs of the stage. Obadiah shook Rhodey's hand as Melody took the award from him. "This is beautiful." He commented as he looked at the glass she held, then turned to the microphone as Rhodey stepped back from them.

"Thank you all very much." Melody told the crowd as she raised the award a little higher so everyone else could see. "This is wonderful."

Rhodey had told her once that she gave the realest fake smile in the world and now she was beyond thankful for that gift because right now when all she wanted to do was scream at Tony, she was in front of an audience of people, accepting an award for him. "Well," Obadiah said to the crowd. "We're not Tony Stark." Melody let out a fake laugh as everyone in the audience joined in.

"But if I were Tony," Melody cut in as she looked down at the award. "I would tell you how honored I feel."

"And also what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award." Obadiah began to laugh as he looked at the award in Melody's hands. "You know, the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He's always working." Melody looked back to Rhodey as they shared a slight eye roll at that lie before looking back to the audience. "But I know Tony would have loved to have been here."

The audience clapped as they stepped away from the microphone and then walked off the stage. Obadiah said something about how he was leaving before Tony could show up while handing the award over to Rhodey and walked away from the two. Melody's heels were clacking as she walked fast in an angry way and pulled her phone out of her clutch as her yellow evening dress flew back from how fast she was moving. "I'm going to kill him." She growled as she dialed Happy's number. Once it stopped ringing she tore into him. "Don't you dare lie to me Happy because I'm only going to ask you this one time. Where is Tony so I can dig my freshly done nails into his skull?"

"Oh you know where he is." He argued back. "Craps table."

"Thank you." She told him in a pleasant tone before hanging up the phone.

"Melly Kelly." Rhodey commented with a smile as she led them to the rest of the casino.

"That whole Melly Kelly thing was cute when I was little, Rhodes, but last time I checked I'm almost twenty-two. My name doesn't even have Kelly in it." A drunk girl almost tumbled into the two, but Melody put out her hand so Rhodey would stop walking and the drunk girl just kept laughing, almost toppling over. She looked over to him with a smile. "What would you do without me?" She purred out.

He rolled his eyes at her with a smile before pulling her head to his lips and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Self-destruct."

He walked forward, seeing Happy in the distance and Melody followed as Rhodey walked up to him, Melody stomping away in her heels. When they got to Tony in the sea of girls that had surrounded him, there was one girl pressed so close to him, it made Melody want to gag. "You," Rhodey began as he moved up to Tony who cringed like he was a child who just got caught doing something bad. "Are unbelievable."

"Oh no." He spoke. "Did they rope you two into this?"

Melody threw her hands in the air like she was upset. "No one roped us into anything, Tony."

"They told me," Rohdey told him as the girl finally turned away from him. "If I presented this award to you, you'd be deeply honored."

"Of course I'd be deeply honored." Melody rolled her eyes at the way he was slurring his words as she tapped her foot impatiently, her hands on her hips. "This is great. So, when do we do it?"

"It's right here." He told him as he pulled out the award from his jacket pocket.

"Come on!" Tony yelled out at the dealer. "Another round!"

Rhodey pushed the award into Tony's hands as he looked down at it, shocked. "Well that was easy." He took it from him slowly, feeling insanely guilty. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Rhodey spoke as he shook his head even if it did bother him.

"Wow, will you look at that?" Tony began to stretch out his arm, admiring it. "That's something else." He handed it to the same girl who was all over him, causing Melody to roll her eyes. "I don't have any of those floating around." He said sarcastically.

Melody loved her uncle to death. He raised her after her father's death and that was something she could never thank him enough for, but she had to admit that he could be extremely arrogant. He turned away from them and pushed his chips into the center of the board. "All right!" He clapped eagerly as he picked up a pair of dice and put them to the girl who was clinging to him earlier. "Give me a hand, will ya?" She blew on the dice seductively causing Melody to roll her eyes for the millionth time that night. He pulled the dice to Melody's mouth as she stared at him blankly. "You too, sour puss."

"I'm not doing this." She argued while shaking her head.

"Come on." He encouraged, moving his hand even closer to her face as she moved her head even further from him. "Blow on the dice."

"I'm not a hooker. I don't blow on dice." She argued.

"I'm not getting out of your face." She leaned forward and blew on the dice angrily to get him away from her, and once she did that, he threw the dice on the table. "There we go!" Once they landed, they all saw that they came out as snake eyes. Melody smirked at him as he looked to her with a pouting face. "Worse things have happened." He spoke as he turned away from her. "I think we're gonna be fine."

"Let's go home." Melody encouraged as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"That's a wonderful idea." He agreed before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

She gave him a smile, put her hand on his back and practically forced him towards the exit along with Rhodey's help. "Hey," Rhodey told them as they got to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

They both waved to him as they walked out the door, and Melody turned to him. "My car is here. I'll see you at the house."

"Yes ma'am." He told her formally as she rolled her eyes. "Love you, Mel." He told her with a sweet smile.

She swore that sometimes it was her who had (and still was) raising him. "Love you, Tony." She called as she began to walk to her car. When she finally got to it, unlocked it and opened the door, she looked back to her uncle, noticing he was talking to a skinny blonde. She sighed and looked up at the dark sky. "Please don't let him bring her home and keep me all night. Please don't let him bring her home and keep me up all night."

* * *

Melody was down in the workshop before Tony even woke up. She was tinkering on the engine for the car they had took in to repair. Melody had suggested a completely different engine before Tony even got a chance to look at it, and it turned out that she was right. Melody was always right about that sort of thing. She was majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in astrophysics. She knew it was going to be a lot, but she loved a good challenge and she loved her pet challenges such as the car.

When Tony finally woke up, he looked at the reporter from last night, totally forgetting about her. He slowly and quietly slipped out of the bed, not wanting to wake her and not wanting to be there when she woke up. Right when he got down the stairs, Pepper was walking into the door for the day. "Oh!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Pepper, thank god." She furrowed her eyebrows at his excitement, but after a few years at the Stark house, she had been through it all. "There's a reporter of some sort in my bed."

She rolled her eyes and handed him a coffee. "You might want to think of starting long commitments." She called as she walked towards the bedroom.

"What's the fun in that?" He called to her as he made his way down into the workshop. Tony gave a slight smile when he saw Melody inside, working on the new engine. She was obviously completely lost in her work so he moved to the nearby keypad and hit the button for the music. A heavy rock song came bursting through the speakers, causing Melody to jump and drop the wrench she had in her hand. "Hey, kid!" Tony laughed out once he saw the look on her face.

"Tony!" She scolded like a mother as Tony continued to walk towards her, still laughing. "I hate you." She spoke as she turned away from him once he reached her.

"You're just too easy." He told her as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Can I get to work please?"

"I bet you're not this way with your little boyfriend." He teased as he sat up on the counter right next to the engine. "What's his name again?"

Melody rolled her eyes as she turned to him. "He's not my boyfriend."

"But you like him." He countered as he picked up one of her wrenches and began playing with it. "Don't you?"

"Yes." She said in an exasperated voice. "I like him. Can I get to work now?"

He studied her with an unamused face before pointing at her. "You're no fun in the mornings."

"And you have the behavior of a twelve year old." She turned to him and gave him a screw driver. "Now, make yourself useful and see what else that car needs under the hood."

He put the wrench down and took the screw driver from her hands with the same unamused face then walked off like a pouty five year old. She gave him a little smirk. Even though Tony annoyed the living hell out of her sometimes, she found it funny when he would do little things like that. How when she would get upset about something when she was younger, he would do the exact same thing back.

After a few moments of silent working with their music blaring, Pepper came into the room on the phone, cutting the music. "Please don't turn down my music." He asked blandly, still enveloped in his work. Even though the music helped them concentrate, they really wanted to get this car done soon, so to work constantly was their only option.

"You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper turned on her heels to look at Melody. "And you should be on your way to class."

Melody waved her hand in her direction, reminding her that she inherited the Stark's "do whatever they want whenever they want" attitude. "How did she take it?" He asked referring to the reporter he had picked up last night.

"Like a champ." She responded blandly.

"How did that go last night?" Melody asked him.

He turned to her with a sly smile. "Let's just say I was up all night." They leaned forward, giving each other a high five, causing Pepper to roll her eyes. She wished Melody had been more like…well, less like Tony. "Pep," He began, looking over to her. "So why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"

"You're flight was scheduled to leave half an hour ago." She told him blandly as she looked to her watch. "Melody, your class starts in thirty minutes. I hardly think you're ready."

"It's like a five minute drive." She complained.

"That's funny." Tony continued, ignoring Melody's answer. "I thought that being my plane and all, it would just wait for me to get there."

"Tony," She began ignoring them both. "I need to speak with you about a couple of things before I get you out the door."

"I mean," He said as he stood up from where he sat, ignoring her last sentence. "Doesn't it defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

"Larry called," She continued before he could interrupt again. "He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no?"

"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"

"Um, no." Pepper said quickly.

"The Spring," Melody began as they both looked to her with furrowed eyebrows. "Is actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked not spring like the season." She looked up from the engine she was working on from the silence they were giving her and met their confused faces. "I took an art history class." She spoke slowly.

They both turned away from her and got back into their conversation as Melody turned back to the engine. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a fair example, but I do think it's incredibly overpriced."

"I need it." Both Melody and Pepper smiled as he moved past Pepper. "Buy it. Store it."

They continued to talk business as Melody looked from the engine to Tony and Pepper, smiling at their bickering. "What are you trying to get rid of me for?" Tony finally accused her of. "Do you have plans?"

"Yes. I do." She told him as she pushed a clipboard in his face for him to sign something.

"I don't like it when you have plans."

Melody stood up and put her wiped off hands on Pepper's shoulders. "I think she's allowed to have plans on her birthday, Tony."

Pepper smiled at her. "Especially when she's one of the people I have plans with."

"It's your birthday?"

"Yes." She answered simply.

"I knew that. You want to know how I know that?"

"Because Melody's birthday is the day after mine." She told him cheerfully that she had beat him to it.

"Well, get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

"And?"

"Oh, it was very nice." Melody smiled as she watched them talk. Well, more like flirt. "Very tasteful." They were just so perfect together and Melody was one of the only ones who could actually see it. She just wanted them to get together already. "Thank you, Mr. Stark." It was agonizing for her.

"You're welcome, Ms. Potts." Tony finally broke out of his stare with Pepper to look at a smiling Melody. "Speaking of birthday presents, Mel, I got yours."

He walked off and Melody followed him with a confused face. "I thought I convinced you no birthday presents this year."

"Well," He told her as he reached behind some cabinets he knew she wouldn't check behind to pull out a flat white box. "I lied." He handed it to her as she gave him an annoyed look. "A thank you would be nice. Open it. Come on. Don't be shy."

She smiled at him as she took the top off of the box. "I hate you."

"You love me." He insisted as she moved the tissue paper off the dress and gasped. Tony smiled at the expression on her face as Pepper gave him a thumbs up from behind her.

"Tony!" She gasped as she pulled the dress out of the box and held it up to her body. "I love it!" She wrapped him in a hug causing him to almost topple over, surprised from her death grip, causing him to smile more. "I love you! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Melly."

When she pulled away from him she gave him a slight frown. "Do you really have to do this so close to my birthday?"

He gave her a sad smile as he put his hands on her shoulders, sad that this was the first birthday he would ever miss. "If I stay here for your birthday then I'm going to have to miss your graduation. I'd much rather be there for that." She nodded, giving him a smile as he pulled her head to his lips, kissing the top of her forehead. "I love you." He told her before pulling away. "Now go to class."

* * *

Melody walked into the auditorium for her political science class, taking her seat on one of the upper rows. Melody honestly didn't know what she was going to do after college. Everyone expected her to go into the weapons business at Stark Industries, but she wasn't sure if that was for her. She wanted a really exciting job. She didn't know what, but she knew she wanted to have a lot of fun doing it. She thought about a CIA or FBI agent which was why she was now enrolled in a political science class, but the class did have other perks. It was her class with who Tony called her "little boyfriend" who was sitting in front of her right now.

"Hey, Mel." He whispered as he turned around to her.

She looked up at him, giving a sweet smile. "Hey, Clint." Her heart beat faster at his name. Clint. Clint Barton. She was going crazy just thinking about it. "Did you pass that test in bio chem?"

"Yeah." He laughed out. "Thanks to your notes. You're a life saver."

She shrugged shyly as he began to turn around. "Hey," She stopped him. "Am I still going to your place to study tomorrow? I _need_ you for this class."

He smiled at her. "Of course, especially since you just got me a B." She gave a little laugh as she looked to her computer, about to set it up for notes when Clint stopped her. "And remember we're still going out for your birthday tomorrow."

"How could I forget?" She asked him in a slow, flirty voice, causing his smile to get wider.

The professor then walked to the front of the classroom, preparing to give his lecture, forcing Clint to look back to the front. He knew that the two were flirting. The two were always flirting. He knew there was something special between them, but he hoped it was strong enough to get through why he got close to her in the first place. This assignment had started out as that. An assignment. He was a shadow agent and he was shadowing Melody. He didn't expect to have a connection with her. Melody was different. She was special to Clint just as Clint was special to Melody, but he knew the truth would tear them apart. He didn't want that. He never wanted that.

* * *

All the girls around in a circle table, clinking their drinks together while yelling, "Happy birthday, Pepper!"

Everyone around them cheered as they brought their drinks back to the table. Pepper leaned into Melody, getting close to her ear. "How was class with Clint?"

Melody rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Do we have to talk about this?" She whispered so Pepper's other friends wouldn't hear their private conversation. When Melody looked from Pepper's friends to Pepper, she noticed something she had never experienced before. "Are you drunk?"

"Getting there." Pepper admitted in a slurry voice.

Melody began to laugh that someone she had known for a little over ten years was getting drunk right next to her. "This is awesome." She whispered through the laughter. Pepper _never_ got drunk especially in front of Melody. Melody was like her baby niece. She was someone Pepper helped raised and if Pepper was sober, she'd be scolding herself right now.

The night went on as Pepper continued to do ridiculous things all night. She went on stage to do karaoke, took more shots, laughed about the most ridiculous jokes and actually danced. Melody thought it was one of the best nights of her life to see Pepper drunk, but then had no idea what to do when it was time to take her home. "I can drive." Pepper claimed as they walked out of the bar.

"No." Melody told her strictly as she took the keys out of her hands, but Pepper couldn't even tell the difference between her house key and her car key at the moment. "That's not a good idea."

Pepper looked behind them as Melody moved her toward Melody's car. "But…what about my car?"

"We'll get it tomorrow." Melody reasoned, and Pepper seemed to go along with it.

Melody made sure Pepper was secure in the passenger's seat before getting into her driver's seat and beginning the drive home. There was no way she was going to let Pepper stay by herself tonight. "You know," Pepper began as she was staring at Melody. "I worry about you."

Melody looked over to her with furrowed eyebrows, not sure what to say to that. "What do you worry about?" She asked as she looked back to the road.

"That you're going to be just like your uncle." Melody's grip on the steering wheel tightened as she leaned even further into her seat. "I feel like you're never going to settle down. You're always going to be working."

"You're always working." She countered with a bit of a bite, annoyed that Pepper was making accusations about her.

"Yeah." She laughed out. "I'm the perfect role model, aren't I?"

Melody sighed, feeling guilty as she shook her head. "That's not what I meant."

"No," Pepper told her while shaking her head. "It's not even my place to go there."

"No." Melody told her as she nodded her head, seeing some point to Pepper's drunken confession. "It is your place to go there and worry about me like that. Who else is going to do it? My mom?" She turned to look at her, giving her a slight smile. "Pepper, you're practically my mother." She shook her head at her with the smile still on her face as she turned back to look at the road. "You can tell me any worries you have about my future, present or past."

Pepper smiled at her, glad that Melody wasn't just her boss's niece, but also her best friend. She had watched Melody grow up and their bond was still just as strong as when she first met Melody as a ten year old. "Melody?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking care of me."

Melody laughed as she looked to her. "Thanks for taking care of me."

When they got to the Malibu beach house, Melody led Pepper to their guest bedroom and laid her down on the bed. "You know," Pepper began as Melody began to walk out the room. Melody turned around when she was in the doorway, ready to listen what else Pepper had to say. "It wouldn't be a bad thing if you ended up just like Tony." Melody turned her head to the side as Pepper began to snuggle up in the pillow on the bed. "Someone will fall in love with you." She began to pull the blanket over her. "Someone fell in love with Tony."

Melody smiled at her and shut the door. If Pepper could fall in love with Tony and only realize it when she was drunk, then Clint could fall in love with Melody and tell her when he was sober.

**A/N: So, I've had this idea for so long and I'm finally doing it! Just some business, Melody is portrayed by Blake Lively and if you haven't followed my stories before then you wouldn't know that I post song lists and outfits on Tumblr. I'm janaespecter14, so look me up. I know this chapter was a little slow, but I'm just trying to set up the story. More will happen in the next chapter. I promise. I hope you guys liked the first chapter and I hope you'll stick around for the rest of the series!**


	2. Rain, Rain, Go Away

**A/N: So I'm going to have the parts in with Tony in captivity so it can help with the time span and what's going on with Tony while Melody is dealing with his disappearance. I'm glad you guys like the first chapter and this one should be more interesting than the last because this is where all the action happens. Enjoy!**

**PS: Stan Lee shows up in this chapter even though he has another scene later in the movie. Just look for "little old man in glasses" :)**

The blinds to Melody's room opened, and Jarvis's voice began talking as Melody rolled over, trying to put a pillow on the back of her head. "Good morning, Miss. Barnes. It's seven in the morning." Melody kicked her feet at how early it was. "The weather today should be humid with rain expected in the late afternoon hours and all through the night."

"Why am I getting up this early?" She asked in a muffled voice from her head buried in the bed.

"Well," Jarvis began in a careful voice. "It's your birthday, Miss. Barnes, and you reminded me to wake you for your day with Mr. Barton."

"Mr. Barton." She mumbled into the bed as she felt herself falling back to sleep.

"Miss. Barnes?"

Melody popped her head up from the bed to keep from fully falling back to sleep. "I'm up!" She called. "Is Pepper still here?"

"Miss. Potts has not yet awakened."

"Damn." Melody mumbled, thinking about Pepper and her drunkenness from last night. "The girl can sleep when she has a hangover."

"I concur, Miss. Barnes."

Melody smiled at Jarvis. Yes, he was just a voice that ran the house, but he felt like a real person to her. He was a part of the family even if he didn't have feelings. "Get a note ready for Pepper and tell her that I'm with Clint." Melody began to think as she stretched out of the bed and went to her closet. "Actually, call Clint. I need to talk to him about our plans for today."

"Calling Clint Barton."

She could hear the ringing in her room as she went through her clothes, trying to figure out what she wanted to wear. "Hey." She heard Clint say through the phone.

"Hey. So, it's supposed to rain tonight."

There was a pause until Clint said, "Crap."

"Yeah." She breathed out, upset with the weather herself. "So I was thinking we change our birthday night activities into birthday day activities, we have lunch and then we go to my place to study."

"Sounds good." He spoke. "I'm actually surprised you fixed the plans so easily."

She made a little pouting face. "I thought I was a genius."

"Trust me, you are."

She smiled at his words and sighed, wanting to see him already. "I'll meet you at the pier."

"Yeah."

The call disconnected as Melody tore through her closet, trying to figure out what to wear. Since their time had changed from night to day, she couldn't wear the dress Tony had got her which was waiting downstairs in the dryer. It was more evening wear. This was going to be a day at the beach. She wanted to impress Clint. She sighed as she wished Tony was there. He always helped her with outfits and told her what looked good on her and what didn't, and when she had those days when she didn't know what to wear, he would pick something that would look great on her. She sighed as she went back to her bed and threw herself down on it knowing this was going to be one of those days. "Miss. Barnes, I suggest you get out of the bed. You know you have a tendency to fall back asleep." This was going to be a long day for Melody Barnes.

* * *

Tony stood in front of the soldiers with his new weapon ready behind him to shoot off. They all waited in anticipation, but Tony didn't care much about it. Right now because of this stupid demonstration, he was missing Melody's birthday. The demonstration didn't matter to him, but he was going to have fun with it. "Is it better to be feared or respected? Well I say: is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind I humbly present the crowned jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary Repulsor Technology. They say the best weapon is one that you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree!" Rhodey rolled his eyes a little with a smile at the fact that even at a weapon's demonstration in front of all these people, he didn't act any more professional than the way he already acts. "I _prefer_ the weapon you only have to fire _once_. That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it and it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves."

He looked to the person operating the machine, giving them the signal to press the needed button. The missile began to move, aiming for the mountains far enough away from them. As the missile shot off, everyone watched except for Tony who didn't even bother turning around for it. "For your consideration," He started off dramatically. "The Jericho."

Right when the missiles landed, a booming sound bounced off the mountains and came back to them in a roar as Tony lifted up his hands, enjoying the look of being impressed on all of their faces. The wind picked up from the explosion causing Tony to stumble forward followed by everyone's applause.

The demonstration was followed by a drink, a call from Obadiah and Tony being rude to Rhodey as he got into the vehicle to escort him back to the airbase. As they drove back, Tony pulled out his phone, knowing it was Melody's birthday in Malibu. He knew she was probably doing a lot for the day, but he had to call her. It was her birthday.

He pulled out his phone and dialed her number as everyone else in the car was completely silent which made Tony slightly uncomfortable. "_Hey, this is Mel. Leave a message after the beep_." He smiled at the way she imitated a beep at the end of the message. "Happy birthday!" He told her excitedly. "Twenty-two!" He exclaimed. "Damn you're old." The young soldier next to him cracked a smile which made Tony slap a hand on his back. "Oh my gosh. I cracked the silent soldier." He said into the phone. "Anyways, I hope you have fun with Pepper and Obi and Happy and your little boyfriend if you're even hanging out with him today." He gave himself a sad smile, still upset that he was missing her birthday, but knew she understood why. "Love you, Melly. I'll be home soon. Promise."

As he hung up the phone, he looked over to the young soldier next to him who was no longer smiling, but looking at him without trying to look at him in wonderment. Tony sighed as he looked to the front of the vehicle. "I feel like you're driving me to a court martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What? You're not allowed to talk?" He looked over to the soldier next to him, rolling his eyes at their silence. "Hey, Forrest."

"We can talk, sir." He stuttered out nervously.

"Oh." Tony responded casually. "I see. So it's personal."

"No." The woman up front who was driving told him. "You intimidate them."

"Good god!" Tony exclaimed, not realizing. "You're a woman. I honestly couldn't have called that. I apologize," He began, realizing how she could take offense to that statement. "But isn't that what we're going for out here? I thought of you as a soldier first."

"I'm an airman." She corrected.

"Well, you have excellent bone structure there. I'm kind of…having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?" Everyone laughed which eased Tony down. It didn't feel as formal anymore. "Come on, it's okay. Laugh. Hey!"

The young soldier at the front of the car looked back to him with a curious stare. "Sir, I do have a question to ask you."

Tony nodded at him eagerly. "Yes, please."

"Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last year's Maxim cover models?" The woman looked over at him, giving him a stare with a smile like it didn't surprise her that he had asked that question.

"That is an excellent question." Tony said before sipping his drink. "Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins." They all smiled as Tony looked around at the rest of them. "Anything else?" The young soldier next to him gave him a slight raise of the hand, causing Tony to look at him like he couldn't even believe him. "You're kidding me with the hand up, right?"

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"

Tony gave him a slight smile and then a nod. "Yes. It's very cool." He pulled out his camera excitedly and gave it to the other soldier in the passenger's seat. "I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." Tony told him jokingly. The man pulled out his hand into a peace sign as Tony shook his head. "Please, no gang signs." The man shyly put his hand back down, thinking he was serious, causing Tony to throw his hand in the air. "I'm kidding." The man put his hand sign back up with a bright smile.

The two men began arguing about the camera as Tony waited for the picture when the car in front of them was blown up. Tony had to blink a couple of times, not being able to fathom what he just saw. "What's going on?" He asked nervously, hoping it was just nothing. Hoping it was some malfunction. The woman jumped out of the car, to be shot down instantly. The man in front instructed the man to stay with Tony for his protection as Tony continued to look around with the same panicked expression. His heart was pounding in his chest as the man pushed his head down.

Tony looked up just in time to see the man in front of the car get shot, sending him up from shock. He had never witnessed someone die before, let alone get shot. The man who was sitting in the back of the car with him got out to quickly get shot, leaving Tony completely alone and defenseless. He had no idea what to do, but he knew he had to get out of there.

He hurried out of the car as his breath quickened from his level of fear and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He dove behind a rock and pulled out his phone, beginning to find Rhodey's number, being the only one who could help him in that situation when a Stark Industries missile landed right next to him. His eyes widened as he tried to get up to run away from it, but it was too late. The missile blew, sending him flying back onto the sand. Tony felt unbelievable pain spread through all his body and when he looked down at his shirt, he saw blood was already seeping through.

* * *

Melody pulled into a parking spot at the beach. It was fortunately still light out when they got there, no signs of bad weather any time soon. She smiled to herself as her phone began ringing. She rummaged through her tote bag to see that it was Tony calling. She knew it was to wish her a happy birthday, but she didn't want to get wrapped up into a long conversation when she had to meet Clint. With a sigh, she turned off her phone, put it back in her bag and then got out of the car.

She made her way to the pier to see Clint looking out at the ocean with his sunglasses on. He looked at the sun on the horizon, thinking about what to do. As her shadow agent, he was supposed to get close to Melody. Really close. But this was getting too close. He had never gotten this close to an assignment before. He didn't want to lead her on considering once he had gotten what he needed from her he had to leave her and now he didn't want to leave her.

Melody leaned on the pier right next to him, their arms touching. She looked to him, but he was still looking out at the ocean, trying to think of something to scare her away. Anything. "What are you thinking about?" She asked him, noticing just how quiet and how focused his stare was.

"You." He answered blandly. He hated lying to her, but knew he had to. He turned to her with a smile. "Just how we're going to make your birthday special."

She smiled at him as she bumped her hip into his. He gave her a warm smile, making her heart melt. "Not a lot of people are at the beach." She told him, still taken away with the feelings she had for him, staring at him the way she hadn't stared at anyone before him. "With the rain later today and all."

He smiled at her, moving away from the wood he was leaning on, taking her by the hand. "Then let's get to the beach. I can teach you how to surf."

Melody broke away from his hand with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure? Sharks go after surfers."

He rolled his eyes at her and grabbed her hand, dragging her off the pier. "You'll be fine."

They had rented surf boards from a local surf shop and after a few hours, Melody finally got the hang of surfing. She was still bad, but she wasn't a total train wreck like she was in the beginning of the day. Clint didn't mind it though. He had even more fun with the fact that she didn't know how to surf. That's when he noticed just how much of the Stark genes were in her. He saw her drive and her desire to master everything she ever learned.

They stopped and got lunch where he thought it would be the best time for the birthday present he had gotten her. He reached into the backpack he had and pulled out a jewelry box. "What is that?" Melody asked him as she held her shrimp po' boy in her hand.

"Your birthday present." He told her as he slid it across the table to her.

She looked to him with an annoyed smile as she put her sandwich back down on her plate and wiped her hands with a napkin. "I told you not to get me anything."

"I know what you told me." He told her with a wide smile.

She rolled her eyes with the smile still on her face as she picked up the box, noticing that it was from her favorite local store. She pulled the top off the box to see a bangle bracelet resting inside. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of it. There was a Captain America shield on the front of it. She looked up at him with a smile as she took it out of the box. "Oh my gosh." She began to put it on her wrist and then admired the look of it. "This is amazing! I love it!"

She looked up at him, noticing Clint was smiling at how much she loved the bracelet. She leaned across the table, kissing him on the cheek to show her affection in some way. She noticed that he was blushing which made her smile grow even more. He was tough on the outside, but was honestly a huge teddy bear. "I remembered you telling me something about how your family was connected to Captain America and I thought you would like it." He explained like it was no big deal.

"You, Clint Barton, are amazing." She couldn't take her eyes off the bracelet. She truly did love it. When she looked up at him, he was slyly handing the waitress his credit card to pay for the meal. "Hey!" She yelled at him while hitting his arm as the waitress walked off.

"Ow!" He grabbed his arm and stared at her with a smile.

"What the hell was that?"

"You don't pay for anything on your birthday." He told her obviously. "That's like a rule that's set in stone for the backbone of our society." She rolled her eyes at his excuse and crossed her arms at him. "Pouting isn't a good look on you." She stuck her tongue out at him which he did back to her causing a bubbly laugh to rise out of her throat and drift off, filling the restaurant with a melodious sound making Clint panic even more about what to do about this entire situation.

* * *

Tony didn't remember exactly what had happened to him, but he remembered that he was screaming in pain. When he finally woke up, he found he was strapped to a rickety bed in a dark room. He looked over to a small table where there was a canteen of water. He coughed out, realizing how thirsty he actually was. He reached out for it, but then saw a man not far from him, shaving his face. He turned over trying to get the canteen when the man finally spoke. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed, but then he looked behind him to see what was tying him to the bed were wires connected to something in his chest. His heart raced in fear as he began to tear his shirt to see what they had done to him. From what he could tell, there was something metal right in the middle of his chest, connected to wires, making it go. He had no idea what was happening to him, causing his breath to quicken from the fear.

* * *

Melody and Clint didn't know how long they were holding hands, but they were walking down the pier as the sky got an even darker shade of grey giving more and more people the want to leave. They continued to talk about everything and nothing, just enjoying each other's company.

There was something Melody loved about today. She assumed it was the lack of people, giving them a chance to be pretty much alone. They were laughing when something only a few feet from them caught Melody's eye causing her to gasp at it. "Photo booth!" She shouted excitedly. "We have to!" He smiled as she pulled him by the arm to the photo booth. Laughing at her simple excitement.

She got in first, pulling him close to her and pressing the button to get the machine going. "What are we doing first?" Clint asked her.

"Um," She thought as the countdown had gotten to two. "Normal."

He put his arm around her quickly as they both smiled and Melody leaning into him without realizing it. When they were done with that picture, he yelled out, "Monster picture!"

She immediately barred her teeth and put her hand out as a claw. Clint imitated her just as the camera flashed. "Two left." She warned. Clint put his lips to her cheek as she made a shocked face, putting her index finger to her other cheek. When the camera flashed, she turned to him and in that moment, he leaned forward and kissed her. Melody was shocked, but Clint pulled away before she could do anything about it. He looked at her, shocked with himself and the countdown was on five. "I'm sorry." He told her quickly.

"No." She told him as she started shaking her head. "Don't be." They both leaned into each other before she pulled him in for another kiss just as the camera flashed. Their photos were done, but they kept kissing like their lives depended on it. Melody was now climbing on top of him as he ran his hands up her soft, golden thighs.

They both had no idea what came over them. Clint never wanted this for her. He never wanted her to fall in love with him, knowing what it would mean when she found out that he was a SHIELD agent even if she didn't know about the government agency yet. Melody had never felt this way about anyone before. She had boyfriends before, but she had never felt such deep feelings and so quickly before.

"Hey." They pulled apart to see a little old man with glasses watching them with the curtain pulled back. "Take your make out session somewhere else so other people can take pictures."

The two laughed into each other before Melody climbed off of him and got out of the photo booth, followed by Clint. "Sorry." He apologized with a wave before the man got into the phone booth with a young girl.

Melody moved into Clint's ear. "You think they're gonna make out in there?"

Clint put his arm around her shoulders, leading her away. "Shut up."

Melody then pulled away from him with the excited face of an idea. "You want to see the best place in Malibu?"

* * *

Tony had a hand held mirror in front of him, studying what was resting in his chest as the man in the room with him was making some type of food. "What the hell did you do to me?" Tony asked in almost an angry voice.

"What I did?" He asked as if he was slightly offended. "What I did to save your life?" Tony looked back to the mirror, studying the thing in his chest even more. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot there and it's headed into your atrial septum." Tony shut his eyes, knowing how bad that was. Knowing he would probably never keep the promise of him being home soon. "Here. What to see?" Tony looked up as the man pulled out a container with the shrapnel in it. "A souvenir. Take a look." He handed the container to Tony who just studied it blankly. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. They call them the walking dead. Because it takes about a week to reach a vital organ."

"What is this?" He finally looked back at the man who had now stopped stirring the food to look at Tony.

"That is an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart." Tony self-consciously zipped up the jacket that was on him, hating the way the thing looked in his chest. He then noticed there was a camera hanging up on the ceiling, watching his every move. "That's right." The man said, taking away the attention he had on the camera and back to the man. "Smile."

Tony looked down, only wanting to be home. Only wanting to be with Melody, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and Obadiah. They were his family and he wanted them more than anything in this moment. "I met you once before." Tony looked back up at the man, only wanting to be let go. To go home. To forget about all of this. "At a technical conference in Bern."

"I don't remember." He whispered blandly.

The man chuckled. "No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk I wouldn't have been able to stand let alone give a lecture on integrated circuits."

As he spoke, Tony was looking around, not having one clue about where they could be, but it kind of looked like a cave. "Where are we?"

There were noises from some type of door, alerting Tony and obviously the man. The man at the door was speaking in some foreign language. "Come on," The man in the room with him told him in a hushed whisper. "Stand up!" Tony stood up without question. "Do as I do." He whispered before the door opened. "Hands up."

Tony put his hands behind his head, doing the same as the man when he noticed there were more men coming into the room with guns. His guns. "Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?"

"Do you understand me?" He hissed. "Do as I do."

The man began talking, but the only word Tony could make out was his own name. After he was done talking, the man who was in the room with him began translating for him. "He says, welcome Tony Stark. The most famous mass murderer in the history of America."

The man talked again and he translated again. "He's honored."

"He wants you to build the missile." Tony's eyes widened now realizing why he was really taken. "The Jericho missile that you demonstrated." He then handed him some piece of paper which he showed to Tony. "This one."

It was the same missile from the weapons demonstration. Tony looked at the man standing in front of him. He was big and had a short beard. He knew this man was some type of terrorist and even though he would love to get back home quickly, he also had no desire to help these terrorists and knew that was something Melody would understand. "I refuse."

* * *

Melody was dragging Clint to a gated golf course as the sky was getting a darker grey from the threatening storm. Melody threw her bag over the fence. "Mel," Clint began in a panicked tone. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me." She called over her shoulder as she began to climb the gate.

She made it over and looked to him pointing her finger seductively at him and curling it. "The things I do for you." He commented before climbing over the gate and following her.

"Okay," She started as they began walking. "I used to come here a lot when I was a teenager when it was closed because of how peaceful it is."

Clint's eyebrows furrowed. "You came to a golf course?"

She shrugged. "I kind of just accidentally stumbled on it and I've loved it ever since."

She got down on the grass, crossing her legs and Clint joined her. "So what do you do here?"

She laid down at the grass as Clint looked back at her. He had never seen her like this. She looked so peaceful and content. Relaxed beyond belief, and he laid down on the grass next to her, not able to take his eyes off of her. "I just look at the sky." The clouds were getting to a dark grey, just threatening for the rain to fall with every minute that passed. "I like to go here to think." She turned to look at him with a slight smile, not expecting him to be staring at her the way he was. "It's kind of relaxing, isn't it?"

"Yeah." His voice filled with the same wonderment on his face.

Melody then shook her head, wanting to get everything cleared up right here and now. "What are we?"

He smiled at her. "We're two people who really like each other and deserve to be together."

"So…you're my…boyfriend?"

Clint nodded, his smile growing even wider. "Yeah. I guess I am. If you want me to be."

She bit her lip while nodding. "I would like that very much."

He leaned forward, taking his time to be close to her and once they were only centimeters away from each other, he kissed her slow and passionately. Melody felt a small rain drop on her cheek, but she didn't care one bit. She wanted to stay in this moment forever. It made her heart pound and the new born butterflies in her stomach felt like they were going to burst. But with one rain drop comes ten and then a hundred and then quickly a thousand.

Clint pulled away once he realized they were getting soaked as the rain which threatened them all day finally fell. "We should get out of here." He laughed out while helping her up.

"Hurry!" She called out as they began to run to the gate they jumped over, their hands held tightly despite the rain running down their arms and into their hands.

* * *

The terrorists took Tony and began dunking his head in water and then pulling it back out. This went on for at least ten minutes until they got tired of it, put a sack on his head and dragged him outside. When they removed the sack from his head, he was almost blinded by the sunlight he hadn't seen in what felt like years. He was holding onto the car battery that was giving him life as he looked around and followed the men. It had to be some kind of base of operations or a compound. When he looked around, he noticed that all their weapons were Stark Industries' weapons. He was placed in front of the terrorist who told him to make the Jericho missile and the man he had awoken to in the room. "He wants to know what you think." He translated once the man began talking.

"You've got a lot of my weapons." Tony said as he kept looking around at the place.

"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile. He wants you to make a list of materials." The man began talking again and even though he was translating for him, Tony couldn't take his eyes off the terrorist, making sure to watch his every move. "He says for you to start working immediately and when you're done he'll set you free."

Tony leaned forward with a smile on his face, shaking the terrorist's hand, knowing the promise was bullshit. "No he won't

The man nodded while looking at the terrorist trying to make his fake smile as convincing as Tony's. "No he won't."

* * *

Melody and Clint ran into Melody's house still soaking wet from the rain that was still falling. She let out a bubbly laugh as he shut the door after her, locking it and leaning up against it. Clint grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him. "That was fun." He told her as she put her hands on his chest, looking up into his bright blue eyes.

"That was really fun." She whispered back as he leaned in for another kiss.

Right when their lips touched, they heard Pepper call out, "Melody?" Melody closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." She called back, leaning away from Clint.

"Can you come into the kitchen, please? I need to talk to you about something really important."

Melody's eyebrows furrowed from the sound of her voice. She sounded nervous and afraid, and Melody had no idea why. She grabbed Clint's hand and followed her into the kitchen where Pepper, Obadiah, Rhodey and Happy were standing by the counter. "Clint." Pepper tried to say in a cheery tone, but didn't come out too cheery. "It's so nice to see you again, but I really need to talk to Melody alone."

Melody looked over to Clint and then shook her head as she turned back to Pepper. "I feel safer with Clint here." Melody answered honestly, moving closer to him, afraid of what they were going to say. Pepper let out a big breath and then nodded. "What's going on?" She asked with a now nervous voice.

"Melody," Rhodey began, moving closer to her.

She then looked around, realizing something was missing. "If you're back then Tony should be here. Where is he? Is he down in the workshop?"

She moved away from Clint to go towards the workshop, but Rhodey caught her arm. "No, Mel. Tony isn't down in the workshop."

Melody felt her heart began to pound. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that it was making her really nervous. "Then where is he?" She asked him impatiently.

"He's…missing, Mel."

Melody felt her heart in the ground in that moment. She didn't even really know how to process those words. They were so foreign to her. Tony couldn't be missing. He was the only person who was always there. The one person who had always been there and now he was gone too. Now he wasn't the only person who had always been there. "I know," Pepper began as she walked forward. "That this is very hard to comprehend-"

"Find him." She said simply as she looked over to Rhodey.

"Melody," Obadiah began like what she was saying was ridiculous.

"No." She said turning her head to him. "He's missing so all you have to do is find him."

"He could be anywhere in Afghanistan by now." Obadiah told her, trying to reason with her. Trying to get her off his back.

"I don't care!" She yelled. "He's missing. Not dead. Find him. I don't understand why this is so hard for all of you to process." She turned to look at Rhodey. "What the hell are you even doing here then? He's missing. Find him. Why did you waste the time you could have spent looking for him coming here when you could have easily told us on the phone?" Melody's breath was quick, feeling a panic attack beginning to settle in her chest.

"Melody," Rhodey told her calmly. "You're my family. I would never tell you something like that over the phone."

"Well that's exactly what I want." She bit back. She knew she was being a brat, but she didn't know how to react to this news. This was her uncle. The one person who was there for her after everything bad had happened. "I want him found."

"And I will search all of that country until he is found." Rhodey promised her as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Okay?" She nodded with tears beginning to fall out of her eyes. "Come here, Melly." He pulled her in for a tight hug as she cried into his shoulder.

Clint watched her, feeling so sympathetic. He wanted to take away all that pain somehow if that was even possible. He also felt this sense of guilt though, knowing that he would have to report this in. He was her shadow agent. It was his job to report in everything that happened to her and this was something major. He had to. He didn't want to, but he had to.

**A/N: I probably won't be able to update in the next few days so sorry about that, but I hope you all liked this chapter. Next one will be pretty emotional with Melody trying to deal with everything happening. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Month 1

_**Month 1:**_

Tony sat down by a fire in the cold damp cave he was now living in, just trying to keep warm. Somehow the days outside were blazing hot while the days inside the cave were cold and dark. "I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark." Yinsen told him while walking to sit across from him, by the fire. "They will never find you in this place." Once he sat down, he looked at Tony who was now looking down. He wanted to get it across to him someway that his weapons were killing people. "Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work in the hands of those murderers." Tony continued to look down, not knowing what to say to him. Not knowing what to do. "Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark?! Or are you going to do something about it?!"

"Why should I do anything?" Tony finally interrupted. "They're going to kill me." That fear of dying was something he had been holding onto all day. The fear of never seeing Melody again was something he was holding onto all day. "You. Either way. And if they don't I'll probably be dead in a week."

Yinsen sat back, finally understanding that he was fearing for his life, feeling hopeless and depressed. He needed to get him to see a light at the end of the tunnel. To do something to take his mind off of it. "Then this is a very important week for you, isn't it?" Tony looked up, realizing he just might be able to get out if he works hard, fast and sneaky.

* * *

It had officially been a week since Tony was declared missing. His face was all over the news and Rhodey called everyday, giving them a status on the search mission going on. Melody and Clint were currently inside her room, cramming for the final exams of their senior year. Pepper and Obadiah had been showing up a lot and were at the house now, but Melody didn't want to talk to them. She hardly talked to anybody anymore. Just Clint. He was her go to. He took her mind off of the Tony situation and didn't ask her anything about it while everyone else just questioned her about it and how she was doing. "Okay," Clint began while flipping through their text book. "Describe to me the Democratic theory."

Melody twirled her pen for a moment and thought about it. "Um," She couldn't think straight all day. She was haunted by a nightmare and once she had it, she said goodbye to sleep.

"Melody," Clint began slowly. She blinked a couple of times once she realized she had been staring off into space. She looked back up at Clint who was giving her a sympathetic look.

Melody rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Don't give me that look."

"Melody," He began in a sympathetic voice that matched his look. "I know you like hanging out with me because I don't bring it up, but we have to talk about this eventually."

She just shook her head while looking down, not really wanting to relive the nightmare. "I had a dream last night."

"What happened in the dream?" He asked her slowly, not wanting to push.

She shook her head, not wanting to think about it again, but knowing she had to start telling somebody something. "Tony was taken into this arena thing." She spoke slowly. "These guys had a gun to his head." Her voice became even more hoarse with every word and a tear laid on her eye, threatening to spill out. "And they shot his brains out." Clint's mouth opened slightly, about to say something when Melody stood up abruptly, trying to get away from the entire topic. "I'm thirsty. Do you want something to drink?"

Clint looked down, ashamed of himself for even asking her about the subject. "No. I'm good."

She gave him a nod and walked out of her room and down the hallway, but stopped at the stairs when she heard Pepper and Obadiah talking. "This is the longest I've ever seen her in her room." Pepper commented. "Even in her teenage days."

"She'll come out eventually." He sounded like he thought this was some silly phase which alarmed Pepper.

"Her uncle is missing." Pepper told him slowly. "That's the one person who took care of her after her dad died."

"I know, Pepper. And it's bad. I know first hand what it's like to lose a parent figure." Pepper looked down, feeling ashamed for not taking into consideration his experiences and feelings. "And the first month, it's an awful experience, but slowly the child gets back on their feet and moves on with their life the best they can." Pepper nodded understandingly, hoping he was right about it. "I just wish Emily would call."

Melody froze at the sound of that name she hadn't heard in years. No one liked to talk about her, it just brought up uncomfortable feelings. "Emily is her mother, right?"

Obadiah nodded, looking down sadly. "You didn't know her, Pepper, but she was a really good mom." He smiled a little bit, thinking about the way the two were when Melody was only a few years old. "I had never seen a mother and a daughter have such a stronger bond in my life." Melody put a hand to her mouth to keep from gasping as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Why did she leave?" Pepper asked slowly, just trying to understand a topic that was never spoken in the Stark house.

Obadiah shrugged. "No one knows. It was like she was happy the day before and then she just got up and decided to leave one day." He chuckled sadly. "Melody probably doesn't remember, but she loved her mother. I think before she left, Emily was her favorite and not James. And Emily loved Melody like no one else."

Pepper sat down, feeling her heart breaking at the feelings Melody had for her mother before and the feelings she has towards the woman now. "Did Emily try to get into contact when James died?"

Obadiah sadly shook his head. "Not even a letter or flowers." Melody shut her eyes tight, not understanding how her mother went from the closest person into her life to a complete stranger who acted like she didn't even care about her. Melody barely knew what her mother looked like anymore. All she remembered were the locks of her long blonde hair and bright, shinning blue eyes, both matching Melody's. "I still think that Melody crosses Emily's mind every day and that maybe she's just afraid to come back to Melody."

"Why's that?"

He shook his head, a slight smile growing. "Because not only did she love Melody like no other, she loved James like no other."

Melody couldn't listen to it anymore. Her heart was twisting, aching and breaking. She turned around quickly and once she got to her door, she ran right into Clint. He caught her arms, not expecting her at all as he was getting out of the room to check on her. "Mel," He began with the shock still there from running into her. He then looked down at her face which she was trying to hide. "Mel," He began again, trying to get a good look at her face, knowing she was crying. "What happened?"

She took a shaky breath and fell right into his arms, crying all she could. Clint held her as tight as he could, knowing she was upset, but just wanting to know why. He took her back into her room and laid her down on her bed, letting her cry all he could as he stroked her hair and kissed her head until she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

Tony had them all in his control in a few days. They were getting him all he needed whenever he needed it. What they all didn't know was that they weren't getting things for a Jericho missile. Yinsen was the only person who knew anything about what he was doing and how to speak English so he kept him around as kind of an assistant. "What languages do you speak?" Tony asked curiously as he worked, trying to get more information on this man.

"A lot." He shrugged like he had no idea where to begin. "But apparently not enough for this place. They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian."

"Who are these people?" He asked as he continued to work, finding it easy to multitask.

"They are your loyal customers, sir." He told him sarcastically, but Tony ignored it, paying attention only to who these people are. "They call themselves the Ten Rings." Tony then moved over to another part of the "missile" he was working on and began drilling. He had to make it look like he was working on that and nothing else. "You know," Yinsen began as he kneeled down right next to him. "We might be more productive if you include me in on the planning process." Tony nodded like he wasn't going to do it, causing Yinsen to roll his eyes, but Tony didn't notice as he continued to work.

Tony moved over to his desk after that, working more on the arc reactor than anything. As he began developing it, Yinsen watched curiously. "We don't need this." Tony called as he threw a useless part behind him.

Tony then pulled out the one thing he needed to make the arc reactor more convenient. "What is that?" Yinsen asked as he leaned in even closer to get a better look.

He pulled it up to his eyes, on the tweezer. "That's palladium, 0.15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?" Tony got it ready for him to break down and Yinsen put it into the fire. "Careful." Tony began patiently, reminding him of the way he used to talk to Melody when she was a little girl. Damn, he missed her. "Careful, we only got one shot at this."

"Relax," He told him without flinching. "I have steady hands. Why do you think you're still alive?"

Tony smirked at him as he dragged the car battery to the table where they had everything set up. Yinsen began to pour the palladium into the soon to be arc reactor and that's when Tony realized he didn't even know this guy's name. "What do I call you?"

"My name is Yinsen." He told him once he was done pouring it inside.

"Yinsen." Tony repeated. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." He told him as he walked away with a smile on his face. Tony was growing on him.

After a few days of working and Yinsen watching closely, he finally had it. Once Yinsen saw it, he began to have a sketchy feeling about all of this. "That doesn't look like a Jericho missile."

"That's because it's a miniaturized arc reactor." He told him proudly while looking down at it. "I've got a big one powering my factory at home." He began to rub the arc reactor, looking down like he was slightly embarrassed. "It should keep the sharpnel out of my heart."

"But what could it generate?" He asked curiously.

"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second."

"That could run your heart for fifty lifetimes." He spoke incredulously.

"Yeah," He spoke blandly. "Or something big for fifteen minutes." Tony looked to him, feeling like he could trust him with this plan. "Come here, let me show you something." Yinsen followed him to another table where he had stashed his drawings in a secret spot. "This," He began in a dramatic voice. "Is our ticket out of here."

"What is it?"" He asked as he began to look at all of them separately.

Tony shook his head and took control. "Flatten them out and look."

As Yinsen did what Tony said, he saw that together they made some big suit of armor. He smiled a little bit at the fact that Tony was smart enough not to draw it all together so the terrorists could catch on. He nodded at him. "Impressive."

* * *

It had been a full month now since Tony's disappearance and that night was Melody's graduation. Pepper practically forced Melody to go out and celebrate. Obadiah, Happy and Clint were all there for dinner and Pepper forced them to take a million pictures. Once the dinner was over though, they all separated. Melody was alone in that big house all by herself on the night of her college graduation when Tony should have been there. She pulled out her phone, thinking of one of the only bits of Tony she had left. "_You have one saved __message_." The phone beeped and Tony's voice began playing. "_Happy birthday! Twenty-two! Damn, you're old__." _She smiled at the thought of him surrounded by completely silent soldiers and his usual take-nothing-seriously self. "_Oh my gosh. I cracked the silent soldier. Anyways, I hope you have fun with Pepper and Obi and Happy and your little boyfriend if you're even hanging out with him today._" There was a pause and tears were already falling down her cheeks. "_Love you, Melly. I'll be home soon. Promise._"

After that, she did one of the only things she could do. She drank. She went through an entire bottle of Jack Daniels and was now currently chugging a full bottle of vodka. Once that was finished, she was drunk. She dialed a number for a cab service sloppily and gave her address. She may have been drunk, but she wasn't going to be stupid. She stumbled down the stairs and waited outside of the house for the cab. Once it came up to her and she got in, the driver was looking around in awe. "Hey, isn't this the Stark household?" Once he turned around, his eyes practically popped out of his head. "You're Melody Barnes."

Melody went through her wallet and handed him a hundred dollar bill. "This is double of what some paparazzi will pay you for this story."

He quickly took the bill and turned back to the front of the car. "Where to, Miss. Barnes?"

She gave him Clint's address and once she got there, she got out the cab and began pounding on his apartment door. Clint opened the door with sleepy, confused eyes. "Melody?" He asked her in a confused voice, not being able to believe that she was standing outside of his apartment at two in the morning.

"I want you." Melody told him desperately as she pushed past him and went into his apartment.

She moved to his couch and plopped herself down as she began to take off her shirt. "Melody!" Clint called as he ran to her after closing the door, trying to put her shirt back down. "What are you doing?"

"I want you." She told him again as she tried to take off her shirt again, but Clint pulled it back down.

"Melody," He began calmly, trying to reason with her. "You're drunk."

"Does it matter?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"It does, Melody." Clint told her forcefully. She sighed and fell back into the couch, crossing her arms in a bratty way. Clint sighed angrily and shrugged. "Do you want some food?" She threw her hands in the air like it didn't really matter so Clint got up and made her a quick sandwich with chips. When he walked back into the living room, he saw that she was watching the news. All they talked about lately was Tony's disappearance. He sat down next to her, placing her sandwich on the coffee table and turning off the TV. Her eyes were still glued on the now black screen. Clint sat down right next to her and she fell into Clint's arms. "Melody," He breathed out into her hair, hating to see her like this.

"I just feel like you're the only one I'm safe with." She cried out into his chest. "I have no family left."

Clint moved away from her head and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Melody Maria Barnes, that is the biggest lie you have ever told." She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Family does not end in blood, Melody." She studied him, knowing that he had become a part of her family in the blink of an eye. "You have Pepper, Obi, Happy-"

"You." He studied her like he couldn't believe he meant that much to her. "I have you."

He nodded while looking into her eyes. "You have me."

"I love you." She spoke honestly, and Clint could tell that it wasn't the alcohol talking. It was Melody.

"I love you." Right when he spoke those words, she leaned into him, giving him a kiss.

Clint kissed her back as hard as he could, knowing this was the first "I love you" they shared, and he hoped for many more. He picked her up bridal style and carried her into the bedroom and dropped her onto the bed. He climbed on top of her as they continued to kiss, falling even more in love with every one. "Wait," Melody began, stopping him. "I thought you didn't want to do this while I'm drunk."

He stared at her and nodded, realizing this wasn't the best time for them to have sex for the first time. "You're a genius even when you're drunk." She laughed as he moved to kiss her neck.

"Clint," She pushed him off of her while laughing, sending him to the side of her. "Well I'm here," She began while throwing her hands in the air. "And I'm still a little drunk so there's no way I'm going home and sex is off the table. What are we going to do?"

Clint thought for a moment and turned on his side so he was looking right at her. "We ask each other anything and everything."

Melody smiled a little as her eyebrows furrowed. "Are we sure that's the best thing to do while I'm drunk?"

"That's what's going to make it so much fun." He told her obviously. She pulled the pillow out from under her and smacked him in his face with it. He laughed loudly and looked back to her. "What are you going to do now that you graduated?"

Melody mulled it over and came up with her answer. "I'm going into Stark Industries to design weapons."

His eyebrows furrowed at that. "I thought you didn't really want to do that."

She shrugged. "I feel like it's the right thing to do now considering Tony." Clint gave her a sad smile, knowing her hope of finding him was slipping with every day. He never wanted her to give up on that, though. "My turn." She said while sitting up, crossing her legs, trying to get the thought of Tony never coming back out of her mind. "Um, tell me about your previous relationships."

"No." He protested with a laugh.

"Come on." She encouraged while laying down right next to him as he wrapped his arm around her. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

He let out an annoyed sigh and turned his head to look at her. "Promise me you won't freak out?" She nodded, getting ready for what he had to tell her. It's not like it could get that bad. "I was...married before." Melody blinked a couple of times, not really sure how to react to that. She knew Clint was older than her. A few decades older than her so he obviously had a lot more experiences than her, but she never knew that he was married. "It was someone I used to work with."

"In the Army?"

"Yeah." He lied, remembering his cover story that he was a war hero in the Army, retired and decided to go back to school. "She was my partner."

"What happened?" She asked slowly, not really wanting to push a sensitive topic.

"A mission went bad." He said as he looked to her. "Then we decided to split up."

"I'm sorry." She told him as she snuggled up even further into him.

He shrugged because now with Melody, none of that really mattered. "What about your list of past relationships?" Melody bit her lip and Clint smiled at her. "Don't even do that. I told you mine so you tell me yours."

She let out a sigh as she played with the blanket she was laying on. "Zeke Stane."

Clint's mouth dropped. "Zeke _Stane_? As in Obadiah Stane?"

"Yes." She breathed out in an annoyed voice. "My first love was Obadiah Stane's son."

He laughed out as Melody looked up at him with a smirk. "Oh my god!" He howled with laughed.

"Okay," Melody told him while rolling her eyes. "My turn to ask a question." He looked back at her, still smiling as she climbed on top of him and he began to rub her arm. "Tell me about your parents."

He let out a sad sigh. "Not much to tell since they died when I was young."

Melody looked down, knowing exactly what it was like to be without both parents. "Sorry. I know exactly what that's like."

Clint shrugged. "My dad was really aggressive when he was alive. He used to beat my brother and I."

"Clint," Melody gasped as she began to rub his head soothingly, hating hearing all of this sorrow and pain that happened in his life before her.

He shook his head, not wanting her to feel sorry for him, but he knew it was impossible. She was in love with him. "My mom was really wonderful." Melody smiled at him, glad that he actually had an escape from that. "She stood up for us and tried to tell us why Dad did what he did."

"How did they die?" She asked slowly.

"Car accident." He began to stroke her hair while looking into her blue eyes. "Tell me about your parents."

Melody sighed, wanting to know more, but also knowing how hard this was for him to talk about it. "My mom left when I was five and I don't remember much about her." Clint nodded, waiting for her to continue. "My dad died when I was ten." She told him softly.

"What of?" Clint already knew the answer to that question. He had done a huge background search on her before he got involved in her life.

She shrugged. "He got sick and no one really knew what of so they couldn't treat it."

"I'm sorry, Mel."

She shook her head, still rubbing his head. "It's been a little over twelve years. It's easier."

Clint nodded, understanding exactly what she was talking about. They continued talking like that until they fell asleep with each other and for the first time, it was getting easier dealing with Tony's disappearance. For the first time she was actually starting to feel okay.

* * *

One night, they decided to play a board game seeing there was nothing else to really do there besides work and sleep. And by Tony's surprise, he was actually having fun for the first time he was down in the cave. "You still haven't told me where you're from." He told Yinsen while looking up at him from the game.

He looked down like he was reminiscing as he spoke. "I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."

"Got a family?" Tony looked away from him as he asked that question, knowing personally how hard it was to be separated from family for so long.

"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here." He looked up at Tony as he stopped playing, sensing more in that question. "And you, Stark?"

Tony hesitated. He didn't want anyone here to know about Mel. He didn't want to out her in that danger, but he knew he could trust Yinsen. "My niece." He nodded, giving Tony the space to let him tell him on his own. "Her name is Melody." Tony paused, still unsure if he should be telling him this. "My brother's daughter. Well," He began to correct himself. "Half brother."

"What happened to her parents?" He also sensed there was some sorrow behind it, but didn't want to push, surprised that he had gotten even that much out of Tony. "Her mom left. No one knows why." He shrugged while looking up at him. "Melly was five. She doesn't remember much about her mom and if she does she doesn't say anything about it." Yinsen nodded, processing all the information, not familiar with a mother actually leaving her child. "Her dad got sick five years after her mom left." Yinsen looked back up at him, feeling suddenly sorry for Tony. "No one really knew what was wrong with him so they couldn't treat it." He looked down, thinking about the night he found out his brother had died. "Melody was there when he died. I wasn't. I was in Bern, actually. I had to leave early when I found out what happened."

"You took after her?"

Tony shrugged. "I wasn't good for her. I partied. I drank. I gambled. But for some reason, James put it in his will that I would take her. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to take care of a ten year old girl. I was just her cool uncle Tony who gave her a sip of beer and came to every single birthday with the best gift ever. Then I had to become parent Tony. I had to make sure she was passing her classes, make sure she had a lunch, make sure she wasn't doing drugs, make sure she came out as a good person." He looked over at Yinsen with a slight smile. "You want to know something?" He nodded. "I wouldn't trade any of that for the world. And I will do anything to see Melody again." Yinsen smiled at Tony and felt like they were actually creating a bond. He knew now that Tony wasn't like the media portrayed him to be. He was kind and heartfelt. "Okay," Tony began while standing up, knowing he had shared enough. "Let's get some sleep. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."

_**I wanted to get some of Melody's family tree in this chapter and explain what actually happened to her parents. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!**_


	4. CEO of Stark Industries

Melody rolled her shoulders back as she took a deep breath and Clint straightened out her purple button up blouse. "You can do this."

She nodded while looking at herself in the mirror. "I can do this."

"You are Melody fucking Barnes."

She straightened out her skirt and looked to him as he stood in front of her. "I am Melody fucking Barnes."

"It's just a talk with Obadiah." He reminded her while rubbing her arms.

"A talk with Obadiah that could ruin my relationship with him and my chance in Stark Industries." She threw her head back and let out a whine. "Clint,"

"Melody," He put his hands on her face, making her look at him as she gave a whine. "You can do this." She nodded again and turned around. Clint smacked her ass as she walked causing her to turn around with a smile. "Go get it you sexy beast."

She rolled her eyes at him as she walked out of his bedroom. "You're no help."

He followed her out the door and waited in the living room as she unlocked the door. "You want to come back here after you get a job and we can celebrate? Just the two of us?"

"No." She told him as she walked out the front door. "Love you!" She called once she saw his pouty face.

"Love you!" He yelled before she shut the door.

Melody got in her car and began her drive to Stark Industries. She spent most of her time at Clint's especially since the mansion she had grown up in and was so used to it being filled with people was now empty and quiet. She was more comfortable at Clint's. She didn't feel so alone there.

When she got to the parking lot of Stark Industries, she sat there for a moment, collecting herself. She tapped her fingers nervously, not sure if she wanted to do this. It was Tony's company. She had been designing weapons for a few weeks, but today was the day she was going to talk to Obadiah about her running the company. He always told her it was open for her whenever she was ready. It had been three months since Tony's disappearance and the company needed someone. She just hoped the company would survive under Melody's command.

* * *

Tony and Yinsen began working on the armor suit. Yinsen had turned out to be a huge help to him and they ended up having most of the suit completed in two months. As they worked, they exposed suspicion when what they were working on looked nothing like the Jericho missile. They got a visit one day from the terrorist from the first day. They immediately stopped working as the door opened and he walked right into their work area with guns, causing them to put their hands on the back of their heads.

There was a man with a shaved head who they made room for as if he was the leader. "Relax," The man told him. Tony was shocked that he had encountered somebody else who spoke English as he put his hands down. The man moved right up to him, making Tony uneasy as he put his hand to the new arc reactor in his chest. "Bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology." He moved away from Tony letting him share a worried glance with Yinsen as the man moved over to their "missile". "It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine, an empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire." He walked over to Tony who watched nervously as he began to grab the plans for the armor suit. "But today, whoever holds the greatest Stark weapons rules these lands." He put the drawings back down and turned to look at Tony. "And soon, it will be my turn."

That was when Tony was sure that this man was the real leader of the Ten Rings. He stood right in front of Tony, intimidating him as best as he could. He then began to speak with Yinsen in a foreign language Tony didn't understand. He watched back and forth as the conversation tensed so much that Yinsen was forced into a chair and the leader pulled out a burning coal, terrifying Tony. "What does he want?" He asked nervously as he moved closer to Yinsen. He moved the burning coal close to his head and Yinsen began yelling and arguing with the leader. Tony had enough of it. "What do you want?" He asked over the two yelling. "A delivery date?" He moved forward, but everyone else put their hands up and their guns at him, making Tony confused, scared and angrier than ever.

They put their guns down as Tony kept on a stare down with the leader. He looked down at Yinsen, knowing he wouldn't be able to survive this place without him. "I need him." The leader looked at him confused as Yinsen took a breath of relief. "Good assistant." Tony explained quickly. He dropped to coal right in front of Yinsen and let him go. "You have until tomorrow." He told Tony, moving closer to him. "You have until tomorrow." He growled at him, getting right in his face. "To assemble my missile." With that they had the determination to get the suit done.

* * *

Melody walked through Stark Industries being greeting by everyone walking by her. Of course they knew who she was. She was royalty in the Stark family and she practically grew up in this building. She moved over to Pepper's desk on the 30th floor, outside of Tony's office. "Hey." She told her as she leaned up against the desk.

Pepper looked up at her, a smile growing wide. "Hey. How are you?"

Melody shrugged. "Surprisingly good." Pepper smiled at her, knowing she really was dealing with this a whole lot better than the first month. "Is Obi busy? I really need to talk to him about something."

She knew something was up with Melody. She practically had to beg her to dress up for work and here she was in a purple button up shirt, black leather skirt and plum lipstick. But if Melody was working on moving on, she didn't want to disrupt that process. "He's taking a call right now, but just go in. I don't think it will take long."

"Thanks." She told her quick before walking into the office. Pepper watched her in the window, seeing that she was shaking. Melody didn't realize how nervous she was until she actually walked in the office.

This would be the second time Obadiah would have the company taken from him, but she hoped he wouldn't mind. This is what she felt was right for her to do. "No." Obadiah said into the phone, smiling once he saw Melody and putting up his finger, telling her to give him a minute. "I'm telling you to keep a closer eye on him. Bye." He hung up the phone when Melody noticed her foot was tapping impatiently. "Melody," He stood up, moving towards her. "What can I do-"

"I want to be CEO of Stark Industries." She blurted out quickly, not expecting that to come out of her mouth at all. Obadiah's eyes grew wide at that and Melody began to panic. "I mean," Melody had no idea what to say in panic, one thing she hated getting from her dad. "I had a whole pitch and I've been rehearsing it with Clint. I didn't mean for it to come out like that." Obadiah opened his mouth to say something, but Melody cut in. "How the hell could I even be CEO? I know nothing about it. This was a dumb idea. Sorry I'm wasting your time. I'm gonna go."

She turned around and began walking when Obadiah called out, "Melody!" She turned around quickly, looking really embarrassed, causing a smile on Obadiah's face. "How about we get a drink and talk about this?"

* * *

The suit was finally done and they were now getting Tony in. "Can you move?" Yinsen asked him once they got it set on him. Tony nodded as Yinsen continued checking everything. "Say it again."

"41 steps straight forward." Tony recited from memory, working on this for weeks. "Then 16 steps, that's from the front door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right."

In the control room, they were watching everything going on in the room they were keeping Tony and Yinsen. They saw them getting the suit ready and men were on their way to stop them. Once they got to the door, they began pounding on it. "Yinsen! Stark!"

Tony looked to Yinsen, trying to keep the calmest face he could, but once he spoke, his voice showed just how scared he was. "Say something. Say something back to him."

"He's speaking Hungarian." He told him in a flustered voice. "I don't-"

"Speak Hungarian." He told him forcefully.

"Okay," Yinsen began calmly. "I know…"

"What do you know?" Tony asked impatiently.

He began talking to him in the best Hungarian he could and the men who were outside kept yelling. Tony and Yinsen were both prepared for that, though. There was a bomb waiting and once they opened the door, they were blown back. "How'd that work?" Tony asked him as he saw Yinsen looking behind him in awe.

"Oh, my goodness." It had blown the entire door off. "It worked all right."

"That's what I do." Tony shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Let me finish this." Yinsen told him, getting back to work.

"Initialize the power sequence." Tony instructed him. Yinsen ran over to the computer, shaking with panic. "Now!" Tony yelled at him, getting panicked too, knowing they weren't exactly ready for this.

"Tell me." Yinsen panicked, not knowing what to do. "Tell me."

"Function 11." Yinsen did as he said and watched the screen. "Tell me when you see the progress bar." Right when he said that, it popped up. "It should be up right now."

"Yes." Yinsen told him once it started moving.

"Talk to me. Tell me what you see."

"I have it."

"Press Control 'I'." Tony told him, his panic level rising.

"Got it." Yinsen mumbled, his shaking becoming too much and he hit what Tony told him to on the keyboard.

"'I'. 'Enter'." Tony instructed him as Yinsen couldn't properly function from the fear taking over. "'I' and 'Enter'." Tony told him again, losing his patience. He finished pressing what Tony told him and turned back to him. "Come over here and button me up." Yinsen began buttoning up his suit as Tony instructed him. "Every other hex bolt."

"They're coming!" Yinsen yelled while looking at the door, hearing them making their way to the room.

"Nothing pretty," Tony spoke, trying to calm Yinsen down as best as he could. "Just get it done."

"They're coming." Yinsen told him obviously while he continued to work on his suit.

"Just get it done." He told him calmly, like how he would speak to Melody when she was having a freak out. And it was in that moment that he realized why he had liked Yinsen so much. "You remind me of Melody." Tony told him as Yinsen looked up at him, shocked as he had finished and went back to the computer. "You've got her heart." Yinsen turned back to him giving him a slight smile before looking back to the computer, checking the progress bar which was moving too slow for their situation. "Make sure the check points are clear before you follow me out, okay?" Yinsen looked back to him and Tony took a deep breath, sharing in his panic. "We need more time."

Yinsen nodded. "I'm gonna go buy you some time."

Tony's eyes widened as he began to walk away. "Stick to the plan!" Yinsen ran out with one of the guns, panicking Tony. "Stick to the plan!" He began shooting, causing Tony's heart to race faster and his breath to quicken at the thought of anything happening to him. "Yinsen!" All he could do was watch the progress bar, needing it to be full to move. Yinsen ran through the cave hall, shooting everyone he could until he came across everyone else, just waiting for him with a lot of Stark weapons.

Back in the room, the progress bar was filled, shutting off all the lights. Tony made his way through the cave hall, remembering the steps he needed to take and knocking down anyone who got in his way. All the anger he had for these people just bubbled to the surface and he took it all out on destroying them. He took them out simply and could actually see light from the opening of the cave. He could hear a sound coming from right next to him and he turned to see Yinsen on sacks of rice, bloody and breathing heavily. He hurried to him, forgetting about the way out, only caring about Yinsen. "Stark." He called as Tony began moving the debris from him.

Tony took off his helmet and studied Yinsen, knowing this wasn't good. "Come on, we got to go." Yinsen continued to breathe heavily as Tony studied him worriedly. "Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're going to stick to it."

Yinsen shook his head at him. "This was always the plan, Stark."

"Come on," Tony tried to encourage him, feeling hopeless. He didn't want to lose Yinsen. It would be like losing Melody. He had reminded him so much of her, it felt like he was losing his little Melly. "You're gonna go see your family. Get up."

"My family is dead." Tony didn't expect that at all and everything he had said before now made sense. "I'm going to see them now, Stark." Tony let out a sad sigh as his head fell. "It's okay. I want this. I want this."

Tony looked up at him with a slight smile. "Thank you for saving me."

"Don't waste it." He told him as he tried to pick his arm up to point at his arc reactor, but it was no use. "Don't waste your life." Yinsen took his last breaths and shut his eyes, letting Tony's anger bubble up even more.

The terrorists outside waited nervously with their guns ready as Tony came out in his suit. They watched him in fear, not knowing what to do at first until they began shooting all at once. Tony just stood there and took it, not one bullet hurting him, shocking all the terrorists. "My turn." Tony growled out, sending his flamethrower on them. He scared them all away and burnt down all the Stark Industries boxes, sending off all the weapons, destroying the compound.

Once he had completely destroyed it with an explosion, he flew off with his rocket thrusters, but he didn't last there long, running out of power quickly, sending him into the sand, his suit now in pieces. He began to take off the pieces that were still attached to him and took in his surroundings. He had actually made it out. "Not bad."

* * *

Melody and Obadiah were sitting in a dark bar. It was still early making the bar practically empty except sleepy drunks. The bartender brought over their drinks and Melody downed her bourbon in seconds, signaling the bartender to get her another one. "That's your dad's favorite drink." Melody looked up at him in shock. She had no idea about that. She never got the chance to have a drink with her father. "You got his ability to hold your liquor."

"I'm not trying to take the company out from under you." Melody jumped quickly as she sipped her drink this time.

Obadiah nodded while giving her a smile. "I know that. You're doing the same thing Tony did. When he was ready, he wanted to take over Stark Industries and I always gave him that option." He pulled his drink to his lips and looked off into space. "I was waiting for you to be ready to take over."

Melody looked up at him with her eyes wide. "Wait, you _want_ me to take over Stark Industries."

He turned to her and smiled. "Of course I do, Melody. Who better than you? You're a genius. I think you'd be a wonderful CEO." Melody didn't expect it to be this easy. She thought they would get into a huge fight, but it was exactly the opposite. He was practically handing the company over to her. "So, you want it?"

Melody sat there for a minute, thinking about it. If Tony ever came back, he would no longer be CEO. She would have cheated him out of the job, but the company needed someone. "Where's the paperwork I need to sign?"

* * *

Tony was wandering around in the desert with a shirt over his head and burns and scars all over his body. Once he got to the top of a sandy hill, he felt like he was about to give up. He wanted to keep going for Mel, but he didn't know if he could. Just then, helicopters flew over him, giving Tony the chance he needed to be seen. He began yelling and waving his hand happily, falling to his knees once it landed for him. Soldiers in uniform began running up to him and one of them was Rhodey, making a smile spread across his face. "How was the fun-vee?" Rhodey asked jokingly. As Tony smiled, Rhodey got down on his knees, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Next time you ride with me." Tony nodded without complaint, falling into Rhodey's hug, knowing he was going home. He actually made it. He was going home.

* * *

After their drink, Melody was waiting in her soon to be office as Obadiah got the paperwork ready for her. Pepper walked in overly formal. "Hello, Miss. Barnes."

"Shut up." Melody called as Pepper sat up on the desk next to her.

"You're going to be my new boss once you sign that paperwork."

"Pepper," Melody began nervously. "Do you think this was the right decision? I don't know the first thing about being CEO."

Pepper gave her a smile, putting her hand on hers. "I think you're the best replacement for Tony. You'll get the hang of things quickly."

Melody nodded right when her phone began ringing. She picked it up and saw that it was Rhodey calling. She took a deep breath, knowing this would be another call about how they hadn't found Tony yet and they were checking another part of the country. She answered the phone with, "How's the search going?" right as Obadiah came in with the papers and a pen.

She picked the pen up about to sign the papers when she heard, "Hey, Mel." It was Tony's voice, causing Melody's eyes to go wide and her to drop the pen in her hands as her heart pounded. She had to be hearing things. "How's Malibu?"

She wasn't. That was Tony's voice. Tony was alive. He was found. "Tony!" She yelled excitedly and both Obadiah and Pepper's eyes popped out. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

Tony laughed a little. "As good as I could be for being in captivity for three months."

"I'm so glad you're okay." She cried out with a few tears running down her cheeks.

"I made you a promise, didn't I? I'm coming home, Mel. I'm really coming home." Tony found it almost hard to believe, but it was true.

"Well we're all waiting for you."

Tony smiled at the sound of her voice, he thought he would never hear it again. "I love you, Melody. I love you so much."

"I love you, Tony."

"I'll see you real soon."

Melody nodded, not wanting to hang up, wanting to keep talking to him. "Bye." She spoke in a shaky voice.

"Bye, baby."

The line went out and she looked over at Obadiah. "He's okay. He's coming back. I don't need to be CEO." She ran to him as he wrapped her into a loose hug. "Isn't that great?"

Obadiah pat her back, trying not to show that he was disappointed by this. This would totally ruin his plan. He was so close getting Melody to sign over as CEO. He needed that. "That's great, Mel." He had to get her into that position. Somehow. Someway. "That's really good."

* * *

Clint walked up the stairs in his apartment building to get a few things for their celebratory dinner of finding Tony. When he got to his apartment, the door was cracked open. Clint pulled out his gun from the back of his pants, always having it to protect Melody. That was at the top of his job description. He moved the door open and walked into the apartment slowly, looking around for any intruder. When he got into his dining room, he saw the silhouette of a person at the table. He turned on the light slowly with his gun ready, to see Nick Fury sitting at his table. Clint let out a sigh and put his gun down on the nearby counter. "Seriously?" He asked as he threw his hands in the air.

"I tried calling. You weren't answering your phone."

"Yeah," Clint spoke as he moved to the counter, picking up his cellphone and showing it to him. "That's because it's here."

"Tony Stark was found."

Clint nodded while playing with his phone. There was always the possibility of him being pulled away from this assignment in the blink of an eye and that's what he was afraid of happening now. "What does that mean for me?"

"Coulson is being sent in."

Clint looked up at him in a panicked way. He didn't want to leave. Not yet. "Are you taking me away from the case, sir?"

"No." He told him blandly as he pulled a drink to his lips, Clint noticing for the first time that he had raided his liquor cabinet. "She doesn't want you away from Melody." Clint nodded, trying to hide his smile. "Coulson will be working on Stark." Fury stood up from where he sat and moved towards Clint. "Let me give you a bit of advice." He put his hand on Clint's shoulder, the two men looking each other in the eye. "If Coulson is coming in, he's going to make himself known as a SHIELD agent." Clint nodded. "And you're going to have to help him with a few thing." Clint nodded again, not sure where he was going with this. "And Melody will find out sooner or later who you are, why you got close to her, what you work for and who you work with." Clint looked off, not wanting any of that happening, but knowing it was inevitable. "I would tell her yourself before it comes out in a way you don't want it to." Clint nodded and Fury slapped his shoulder before walking out of his apartment with his drink. He had to tell Melody, but he was afraid of how she was going to react. Especially when he tells her the reason he was sent in.

_**Hmm, why do you think Clint was sent in? Tony is finally coming back home! Hope you enjoyed! Please review!**_


	5. Chaos Comes With Going Home

Clint spent the night at the mansion with Melody and she was excited to say the least. "Mel," Clint called as she was going through all the clothes in her closet. "You need to sleep."

She came out of the closet, throwing herself down on the bed right next to him. "I can't." She mumbled before flipping herself over as Clint began to run his hands through her golden hair. "I don't know what I'm wearing tomorrow when we meet Tony and I'm just too excited." He smiled at her, loving every bit of her bubbly personality. He thought about the conversation he had with Fury, knowing he had to tell Melody sometime soon about what he was doing, but he didn't want to break her heart any more than it had been broken in the last few months. "Why are you staring at me?" She finally asked him as she hid her face in a pillow causing him to smile even more.

"I'm staring at you because you're beautiful." She looked back up at him, smiling wider than before. Clint couldn't help his heart's pounding feeling. He moved towards her and grabbed her face in his hands. "I love you." He told her seriously as she looked into his bright blue eyes. "I love you so much."

Melody smiled at him and leaned forward as he placed his hands on her thighs. She was taller than him now on her knees as she rubbed the sides of his face. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

He shook his head while studying her eyes. "I never want to lose you."

She smiled at him and gave him a light kiss. "You never will." He fell back on the bed with her as she kissed him and then pulled away. "Even if anything happens between us, you've got me until the end, Clint Barton."

Clint moved her hair back behind her ears, staring at her. She looked so perfect to him even without make up on. "You've got to get some sleep, darling."

She moved off of him and snuggled into him on his side when he laid down and Clint turned off the lamp then turned back to her. "I'm so glad you're here." She said as he turned to her, kissing the temple of her head lovingly. "I'm so glad that you love me."

Clint nodded, giving her a few more kisses. "As long as you always know that I love you no matter what I do." She nodded, but Clint continued to look down at her seriously, needing to hear that she always would. "Promise me."

"I promise." He kissed her one last time as she got comfortable in him again. Clint couldn't fall asleep until her eyes were closed and her breath had become heavy with dreaming, wanting to hold onto this moment for all of time.

* * *

Melody, Clint, Pepper and Happy waited as Tony's plane landed. Clint would have preferred a better time to be introduced as Melody's boyfriend, but Melody and Pepper insisted that he came. He had become a part of the family. The only person who hadn't gotten any time to accept him a part of the family was Tony. Right when he got out of the plane and walked down the steps, Melody couldn't take it anymore. She knew this was supposed to be formal, but Tony was missing for three months. She ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight, hurting his already broken arm. "Ow!" He screamed and she loosened her grip.

"Sorry." She told him with a wide smile, adjusting the way she was hugging him. "I'm just so happy to see you."

Tony hugged her back as tight as he could, breathing her in and rubbing her head. "You don't know how much I've missed you, Melly." He rocked her back and forth, tears about to fall down his cheeks. "I thought I would never see you again."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, everyone else watching with smiles, happy that the two were back together again. They were each other's best friends and nothing or no one could replace the relationship or the love they had for the other. When they finally broke away, she moved to Rhodey, wrapping him in a big hug as Tony moved over to Pepper. "Thank you." Melody whispered into Rhodey's ear. "I know I was really mean to you-"

"Hey," Rhodey began as he broke away from Melody, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to apologize for any of that." She smiled at him as he stroked her cheek with his finger. "Love you, Melly Kelly."

She wrapped him into another hug, standing on her tip toes. "I've missed you."

"Hm," Tony began once he got in front of Pepper who was smiling at him happily. "Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long lost boss?"

"Tears of joy." She sighed out as Melody and Rhodey made their way to everyone else. "I hate job hunting."

"Yeah," Tony told her with a smile. "Vacation is over."

"Tony," Melody began, jumping in front of him, giving him a smile she only gave him when she had to tell him something and she wasn't sure how he was going to react to it.

"What did you do?" He questioned knowing the exact smile and tone of voice.

"Um," She looked behind her and signaled for Clint to move over to her. Once he did, he was smiling friendly at Tony, not really sure how to act himself as Melody put her arm around him. "This is my boyfriend. Clint." She looked back to Tony, giving him one of those 'be nice' looks. "I like him very, very much."

Tony studied Clint, knowing this was her "little boyfriend" they used to tease her about. He never thought that they would actually get together, but if Melody was happy, Tony was going to be happy for her. Tony put out his hand, meeting Clint's in a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Clint."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark."

"Please," He told him as he clapped his hand on his shoulder, leading him away from the rest. "Call me Tony."

Pepper and Melody shared a worried look and Rhodey just looked off at them upset. "I still need to give him my uncle speech." Melody rolled her eyes at Rhodey and moved to the car with Clint, Tony and Pepper.

Melody was forced to sit in the passenger's seat as Tony and Clint continued whispering. Melody was looking at them the entire time, but couldn't hear a word of what they were saying. "Where to, boss?" Happy asked, looking at them in the rearview mirror.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy."

"No." Tony protested Pepper's request.

"No?" Melody asked when he and Clint stopped whispering. "Tony," She began in a careful tone.

"No," He spoke defiantly.

"You have to go to the hospital." Pepper insisted as Clint watched the two argue uncomfortably.

"No is a complete answer." He told her.

"The doctor has to look at you."

"I don't _have_ to do anything." Melody rolled her eyes, turning away from them, leaning back into her seat, letting out a deep, annoyed sigh. She had forgotten how irritating her uncle could be. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger and the other-"

"That's enough of that." Melody said in a disgusted voice as she closed her eyes.

"It's not what you think." He told Melody before looking back to Pepper. "I want you to call for a press conference."

"Call for a press conference?!" Melody exclaimed as she looked back to him

"Yeah." He told her blandly while turning back to Clint.

"What on earth for?" Pepper practically yelled.

"Hogan," Tony instructed, ignoring the two. "Drive. Cheeseburger first."

* * *

Melody was still in a sour mood when they pulled up to Stark Industries for the press conference. When they got out of the car, they were immediately greeted by Obadiah, but Melody pulled Clint by the arm, shocking him with her strength in that moment. "What were you two talking about in the car?" She whispered, giving a fake smile for all the cameras.

Clint shrugged. "He told me not to say."

She turned to him sharply, her eyes expressing all of her anger, but not her face. "Who are you more scared of?"

"I'm having a hard time distinguishing that right now. My girlfriend or my girlfriend's uncle who raised her who also owns a weapon industry and could purposely malfunction the weapon I'm using for work." Melody rolled her eyes and moved her arm out from under his, walking off. She was starting to hate his new job.

They all walked into a large meeting room filled with the press with Tony eating his burger. Everyone clapped and cheered that he was alive as Melody, Pepper, Clint and Happy watched from far away. Even if Tony was already starting to get on Melody's nerves she had to admit that she missed their bickering and banter. She smiled as she watched him walk into the sea of press. "Miss. Potts?" Melody looked over to see a man by Pepper. When Clint saw him, he turned away quickly, confusing Melody. It was like he had seen him before. Like he knew him. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Pepper shook her head. "I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now."

Clint kept looking around like he didn't want to be seen so Melody leaned into his ear while putting her hand around his shoulders. "Are you okay, babe?"

"Yeah." He whispered quickly without looking to her.

"I'm not a reporter." Melody looked back to the man.

"I'm gonna go get a drink of water." Clint whispered to her quickly before turning away.

Melody turned around to watch him with a confused face. "I'm agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics division."

"That's quite a mouthful." Pepper commented as he handed her a business card.

"I know," He told her as Melody turned to look at Agent Coulson and Pepper. "We're working on it."

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA-"

"We're a secret division," He jumped in. Melody turned around, but she couldn't see Clint anywhere nearby so she looked back to Coulson. "With a more specific purpose. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

Pepper nodded politely. "I'll put something in the books, shall I?"

"Thank you." He told her before walking away.

"Agent Coulson!" Melody called, moving up to him before he could walk out the doors. He studied her seriously, waiting for what she had to say. "What exactly does the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics do and what do you want with my uncle."

"Well," He began while looking over to Pepper. "Like I told Miss. Potts, we're a secret division that takes care of…different matters."

"Different matters?" Melody asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Here," He dug through his coat pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to her. "If you have any questions, call me directly." Melody nodded, still studying the business card as he walked away from her. "Oh," She turned to see him almost out the door. "And you should ask your uncle about the 'different matters'." He gave her a smile as Melody returned it. "Have a nice day."

"You too, Agent Coulson." She wasn't sure about any of this. She looked down at the business card, studying to logo. She could have sworn she had saw it somewhere before. She moved back to everyone else, noticing Clint was back with the group. When he saw her he smiled, putting his arm around her as she returned the smile. A lot of things weren't starting to add up with Clint, Tony's escape and this secret division. She was going to find out what was so sketchy about it.

Obadiah went up to the microphone as Tony sat down in front of the podium, just finishing his burger. "Hey!" Tony began, interrupting him. "Would it be alright if everyone sat down?" He pulled out another burger and began to unwrap it as Melody studied him like he was the strangest person in the world. "Just sit down." They all began doing as he said. "That way you can see me and we can make it a little less formal."

Obadiah sat down next to him and Rhodey moved up to Pepper who sat down next to Melody. "What's up with the love-in?" He whispered.

"Don't look at us." Pepper whispered while turning to him. "We don't know what he's up to."

Melody studied Tony, knowing something was off. Something had been off since she first saw him. "Good to see you." Tony told Obadiah who was just smiling at him.

"Good to see you." He told him as he rubbed his shoulder.

"I never got to say goodbye to Dad." He whispered to Obadiah before looking out at the crowd. "I never got to say goodbye to my father." He crumpled up the paper his burger was in, everyone now looking at him seriously. "There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about this company did." Melody felt it hard to watch, making the press conference think about her dad. "If he was conflicted. If he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of the man we remember from the newsreels."

"Are you okay?" Clint whispered in Melody's ear. All she did was nod, still a little upset with him and now confused by him. Clint watched her nervously already feeling it happening. Already feeling the separation.

"I saw young Americans killed." Tony told the crowd seriously, causing a silence to pass over everyone. "By the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

One of the reporters in the front row raised his hand. "Mr. Stark?" He nodded to him so he could ask his question. "What happened over there?"

Melody watched on curiously, wanting to know the answer to that question herself. "I had my eyes opened." He said as he stood up. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things to blow up." He was now standing behind the podium, taking the press conference from an informal one to a very important one. "That's why, effective immediately, I'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International." Everyone stood up, including Melody, Pepper and Clint. "Until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be," Obadiah joined him, trying to lead him away as the press broke out in chaos. "What direction we should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."

As Tony got off the stage, Obadiah took the microphone. "What we should take away from this is that Tony's back. And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up."

Tony moved past all of them as Melody stood there with her mouth dropped. "I'll explain all of this to you later." He whispered as he grabbed Happy, taking him out the door.

Obadiah followed him, stopping when he saw Melody. "If you would have signed the god damn papers none of this would have happened." He whispered to her.

Melody was boiling over with rage as he moved on. "Mel," Clint began as he moved up to stand in front of her.

"Clint," She began in a furious tone. She couldn't talk to him either. Not after all the shady things he had done to her today. "I need to be alone right now." She told him while calming herself. "I just need to go home and take a long, hot shower and be alone."

He nodded, moving to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you." He told her sincerely once he pulled away.

"I love you." She breathed out before turning around and flagging down a cab when she got outside.

* * *

Melody walked out of her room in cozy pajamas, her hair up and all the make up off her face. She walked down the stairs, in mind to get something to eat, but saw Tony sitting down on the couch, watching TV. "Catching up on all you missed?" She asked, the tone of her voice clear that she was still angry with him. "I'll give you some help. Rachel and Ross end up together."

He rolled his eyes at her while getting up from the couch as she moved to the kitchen. "You're upset." He told her.

"No." She said while turning around to look at him as she pulled a bowl and cereal out on the counter. "I'm furious with you."

"Why?" He asked her like he didn't understand. "Why are you so angry?"

"Because," She yelled at him. "Not only did you embarrass me, you're destroying the company!" He opened his mouth to say something when she interrupted. "What the hell is Stark Industries going to do now, Tony?! We are a weapons company! A family owned weapons company that your father worked on for all of his life and you're destroying all of it!"

Tony studied her up and down, the way he used to when she had a tantrum. "You done?" She nodded angrily. "Come downstairs with me. I need to show you something."

Her eyebrows furrowed, more confused than ever. "What?"

"Don't question." He told her as he began to walk to the workshop. "Just do."

She rolled her eyes and followed him downstairs. Tony took a minute, looking around at the room. "This is the first time I've been down here in three months." He told her.

She looked down and nodded. "Me too."

He turned over to look at her. "You haven't been down here since I left?"

She looked back to him and shrugged. "Yeah because the day after you left was my birthday and I didn't go down here once that day especially when I found out that you were missing."

He moved closer to her, studying her face. "What about the other days?"

She shook her head while throwing her hands in the air. "You're everywhere in here. How would it be possible?" He looked down guiltily. "I didn't spend most of my time in the house anyway."

"Where did you spend it?" He asked curiously.

She looked back to him, giving him a slight smile. "Where do you think I spent it?"

His eyes widened at that. Yeah, he told her about that stuff, but he never really wanted to hear it from her. She was practically his daughter. "I didn't think you and Clint were that serious."

"Well we are." She breathed out.

"Well it didn't look like it today."

She sighed angrily, putting her hands on her hips. "Weren't you supposed to show me something?"

He shrugged. "I guess I'm just stalling."

"Why?" She asked him, genuinely concerned about what was going on.

He turned back to her, putting out his pinky as she smiled. "Promise you won't freak out."

She wrapped her pinky around his and moved close to him. "I promise."

"Just remember that in a few minutes." He told her as he began to unbutton his shirt.

Once he was done, Melody saw the glowing blue light of the arc reactor in his chest. "Oh my god." She whispered as she moved close to it. "That's an arc reactor."

"Yeah." He told her as she began to inspect it, moving her head in all different ways to look at it in different angles.

"I thought this wasn't-"

"Possible?" He finished for her. She nodded, still mesmerized by the arc reactor. "Well, it is now."

Melody gulped, feeling nervous, already knowing the answer to her next question. "What is it powering?"

He looked down at Melody, picking up her chin so she could look at him. "My heart has shrapnel threatening to go in it and the electromagnet in the arc reactor is keeping that out."

She looked at the arc reactor, hating the feeling that Tony could have died there. "Are you going to tell me what exactly happened in Afghanistan?"

He took a deep breath and jumped up on a table, making room for him to sit down next to her. "I was held by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings who had a lot of my weapons." Melody looked down, getting why he wanted to stop making weapons. "And they tried to force me to make a Jericho missile. There was someone they had working with me, his name was Yinsen and he reminded me a lot of you." Melody smiled as Tony looked over to her with a smile. "Together we built a kind of suit of armor to escape."

Melody's eyebrows furrowed. "A suit of armor?"

"An iron suit, being the only metal we had."

Tony got quiet after that, causing Melody to watch him nervously. "What happened to Yinsen?"

Tony cleared his throat before he continued. "We got the suit to work, but Yinsen didn't make it." Melody rubbed his shoulder, trying to show some comfort which he gave a sad smile to. "I destroyed the compound, got out and got rescued."

She grabbed Tony's hand and laid her head on his shoulder, Tony laying his head on hers. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

He smiled and moved his head so he could kiss hers. "It's okay."

"I can see why you don't want to make weapons anymore."

He breathed in her hair, never getting over the fact that he was so close to never seeing her again. "Thank you." He then got an idea. Melody was the smartest person he knew. Why wouldn't he include her on this? "Mel," She looked up at him, keeping her head still on his shoulder. "I've got an idea and I think I'm gonna need your help."

_**I feel like this chapter is a lot shorter than all of my others, but I thought it was a good place to stop. I can't wait until I start writing all of the working on the Iron Man suit together. I've got a lot of banter and family moments planned for you guys. Hope you liked this chapter! Please review!**_


	6. We Can Do This

Melody went to the front door of the mansion to answer the doorbell that just wouldn't stop ringing. She opened the door, ready to chew whoever it was out when all she saw was a bouquet of very colorful flowers covering the person's face. "I'm sorry." She heard Clint say from behind the flowers.

She couldn't help, but smile at him. She took the flowers from him, inhaling them deeply then looked up at him through the flowers. "What exactly are you sorry for?" She wanted to have some fun with him.

He smiled at the way she looked in the flowers. "For being a dick." Her eyebrows raised at that. "For leaving you when the press conference started. For not telling you what Tony was telling me." He kept watching her, finding it impossible to look away. "Damn, you're gorgeous."

She moved the flowers away from her face and gave him a smile. "I guess I forgive you."

"Baby," Clint moved forward, trying to kiss her neck as Melody laughed, closing the door behind him.

They made it all the way to the couch and started making out on it after she put the flowers on the coffee table. Clint was kissing her neck as Melody ran her hands through his hair. Clint was already working on getting the first button of her shirt off when Tony got to the bottom of the stairs. "Whoa!" He yelled, turning away quickly.

Clint got off of Melody quickly, her sitting up faster than ever before, both of their cheeks beet read. "Hey, Tony." Melody breathed out once he finally turned back to him. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." He told her quickly as he began to move towards the workshop. He gave Clint a small nod. "Clint."

"Tony." Clint said back as Tony began running down the stairs. Clint looked over to her with a little smile tugging at his lips. "That was interesting."

Melody turned to him and shrugged. "I've caught him doing worse." She pulled Clint back in for another make out session when the front door opened causing the two of them to sit up from the couch with an annoyed look.

"Good morning." Pepper told them cheerfully as she walked inside and sat next to them, forcing them to scoot over to make some room for her.

"Good morning." They both said back at the same time with smiles.

Pepper put the TV on Mad Money as she began doing work on her laptop and Clint and Melody were just talking. "Stark Industries!" came from the TV, causing them all to look over. "I've got one recommendation for you. Ready? Ready?" Melody rolled her eyes at the television while gritting her teeth. "Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells?"

Melody looked over at Pepper who just shook her head while rolling her eyes. "This isn't new." She told Melody. "Don't listen. Never listen to them."

"Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan!" He picked up a baseball bat and smashed a mug with it, causing both Pepper and Melody to flinch. "That's a weapon's company that doesn't make weapons."

Clint shook his head, getting just as mad as the girls. "How about you shut up, buddy?"

"Pepper?" They all looked down to her tablet which was running everything in the house, including the intercom. "How big are your hands?"

"What?" She asked, completely thrown by the question.

"How big are your hands?" He repeated.

"I don't understand why-"

"Get down here. I need you."

Pepper looked to Melody while putting her laptop on the coffee table. "Do you know what he's up to?"

Melody threw her hands in the air like she had no idea and once Pepper started going down the stairs, Melody got up to go. "What are you doing?" Clint asked her.

"Spying." She whispered as she looked to make sure Pepper was already in the workshop. "Are you coming or not?"

Clint sighed as he watched her creep down the stairs. He was a trained spy. He knew he could have done ten times better than her. "Hang on."

They both found a spot on the steps where they could still see and hear, but not be seen. Pepper was walking towards Tony with her hands out. "Oh, wow, they are small. Very petite." Tony commented. "I just need your help for a sec."

"Bastard," Melody whispered.

"What?" Clint asked in a shocked tone at her outburst.

"He was supposed to wait for me to do this." Melody spoke as she crossed her arms. "I wanted to play with the arc reactor."

"What is he doing to it?" Clint asked, still stuck on what was happening in the workshop.

"Changing it out." Melody pouted.

"Is that the thing that's keeping you alive?" Pepper asked incredulously.

"It was." He said while holding a new arc reactor in his hands. "It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it out for an upgrade. The old one just ran into a little speed bump."

Clint looked over at Melody who was still pouting so he put his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it with a small smile. "You'll be okay."

"Speed bump?" Pepper questioned worriedly. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. There's just a little snag." He told her reassuringly as he moved to pull out the current arc reactor in his chest. "There's just an exposed wire under this device and its contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short."

He pulled the arc reactor out all the way, alarming Pepper. "Wh-what do you want me to do?" She stuttered, not fully understanding the situation yet.

"Put that on the table over there." He told her with a wave of the hand as she did what he said. "That's irrelevant."

"Oh god." She whispered as she put it down and turned back to him.

"I just need you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out."

She looked down in the hole left in his chest with a worried face. She didn't like the idea at all. "Is it safe?"

"Yeah," He assured her even though he and Melody both knew that was the exact opposite. "It's gonna be fine. It's like Operation. Just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes 'beep'."

Pepper looked at him blankly. "What do you mean, 'Operation'?"

"It's just a game." He explained even though her confused expression never changed. "Never mind." He looked to her as he relaxed back into his seat. "Just gently lift the wire."

She slowly moved to his chest as Clint and Melody leaned in with anticipation when she moved her hand away and the two moved their heads back. "You know, I don't think I'm qualified to do this."

"No," he told her quickly, trying to reassure her. "You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met."

"Obviously more capable, qualified and trustworthy than me." Melody mumbled under her breath, causing Clint to look at her in a judging way. "Look forward." She told him as she pushed his head back to Pepper and Tony.

"You're going to do great." He told her with a slight smile while looking down at his chest worriedly. "Is it too much of a problem to ask because…"

"Okay, okay." Pepper said while shaking her hands out, still worried about the entire situation.

"I really need your help here."

She took a deep breath and began to reach her hand down in his chest. "Oh," She squealed out with a disgusted face. "There's pus!"

Clint gagged a little from the sounds it was making, causing Melody to hit him on the arm. "It's not pus." Tony told her as calm as possible while she was still freaking out about it. "It's not pus. It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device. Not my body."

"It smells!" Pepper screamed, causing Clint to gag more.

"Are you trying to get us caught?" Melody said in a hushed whisper.

"Block it out." He told her before burying his head in her lap, and she wrapped her arm around his head, trying not to let him hear the sound.

"The copper wire." Melody looked back up at the two, listening intensely.

"I got it!" She told him excitedly that she was now done with it.

"Now," He began as she pulled it out. "Don't let it touch the sides when you're coming," Right when he said that, it hit the side and he screamed, "Out!"

Pepper immediately stopped and looked down at him. "Sorry. Sorry."

"That's what I was trying to tell you before." She took a deep breath and continued pulling the wire out slowly. "Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull out the magnet at-" He was cut off by Pepper doing the exact thing he was telling her not to. "The end of it. That was it!"

"Oh my god." Melody whispered as Clint finally looked up from her lap.

"Oh god." Pepper breathed out as she tried to put it back in.

"No! Don't put it back in!"

"What do I do?" She yelled as she put the wire on the table next to her. She moved back to Tony, worried about his face of pain. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," He told her casually. "I'm just going into cardiac arrest because you _yanked_ it out like a trout."

"What?!" She screamed at him, hardly letting him finish his sentence. "I thought you said this was safe?!"

"We gotta hurry." He told her as he handed her the new arc reactor.

"Shouldn't you go help?" Clint asked while turning to Melody.

She put her finger up. "Give 'em a minute. They can figure this out."

"Melody!" Clint practically screamed at her.

"You gotta switch it out really quick." Tony told her.

"Okay," Pepper said in a panicked voice as she took the arc reactor from him. "Tony, it's going to be okay?" Tony rolled his eyes slightly, wishing she would just put it in. "It's gonna be okay. I'm going to make this okay."

"Let's hope." He mumbled under his breath as he gave her the instructions. Once she put it in, he let out a scream, but it worked.

"See," Melody told Clint as he rolled his eyes. "No one died. It worked out."

"Are you okay?" Pepper breathed out, relieved he wasn't dead.

"Yeah, I feel great?" He studied Pepper who was still freaking out. "Are you okay?" He laughed out, causing a smile to spread across her face.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again."

Tony put up his finger, telling her to give him a minute. "Melody, I know you're on the stairs!"

Melody tried to get up so fast she slipped on one of the steps, but then Clint caught her arm, dragging her up the stairs. When they got to the indoor waterfall, Clint turned to her, giving her an annoyed look as she gave him a cheesy smile. "Don't ever drag me into something like that again."

She moved to him, wrapping his arms around her waist for him. "Do you want to do a spy role play tonight?" He smiled at the irony of her asking that question. "It'll be hot."

"This is why I love you!" He screamed as he picked her up from the waist quickly as she squealed with laughter.

* * *

Melody was lying on the couch upside down, throwing a bouncy ball at the ceiling and catching it once it fell back. Tony came up from the stairs of the workshop, noticing her. "What are you doing?" He asked, completely thrown.

"I'm bored." She called just as she missed the bouncy ball and it rolled away from her and to Tony's feet.

He leaned down and picked it up and Melody sat up. "Why aren't you at work?" He asked her as he threw the bouncy ball to her and she caught it.

"Well, considering we're not making weapons anymore, it kind of puts me out of a job."

She threw it back to him while he gave her a guilty look. He didn't even think about her job at Stark Industries. "Sorry, kid." She shook her head at him as she threw it back. "Where's Clint?" He asked before throwing it at her.

"Work." She answered before throwing it harder than she meant to, Tony feeling it. She shrugged with a sly smile; that throw shocking herself. "Sorry."

"Do you have some anger there?"

She caught the ball and shrugged. "I don't know. Clint's just been kind of shady lately."

"How?"

"He started acting really weird when you got back. He started drawing into himself and just not sharing as much as he used to." She shook her head before finally throwing the ball back to him. "It's weird."

He shrugged. "Maybe he wants something to be surprise." Melody rolled her eyes like she didn't believe any of it. He didn't know what it was like that day. And then there was Agent Coulson. Clint had been making up for it a lot, but none of it was an explanation. "Hey, I'm gonna talk to Rhodey today; maybe fill him in on the suit." Melody's eyes widened at that. She thought this was just something between the two of them. "You want to come?"

"He's not going to get involved." She told him with a sigh when he threw the ball to her as she got back in her position to throw it at the ceiling again. "That's if he gives you a chance to explain what your visit is about."

"We have to try, Mel."

"Well, have fun trying with Rhodey. He's as stubborn as a mule."

Tony laughed before moving up to her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I love you."

She gave him a smile as they made eye contact. "I love you." She told him back before he walked towards the door. "Tell Rhodey I said hello."

The door closed and Melody sat up quickly. She quickly checked all over the house just to make sure no one was home before coming back to the living room. "Jarvis,"

"Yes, Miss. Barnes?"

"I need you to check everything known about the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Division."

"That's quite a mouthful."

She shrugged while playing with her Captain America bracelet. "Tell me about it."

"Currently checking all over web for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Division."

"Buzz me once you got something?"

"Anything for you, Miss. Barnes."

She smiled while looking up at the ceiling. "Thanks, J."

* * *

Tony and Melody were down in the workshop, ready to start working; Tony getting on his keyboard to show Melody the recent design he made of the first suit. "Jarvis," Tony called. "You up?"

"For you, sir, always."

"I'd like to open a new project file. Index as Mark Two."

Tony began to move the design from the monitors to the hologram board, Melody picking up a pen and immediately starting to take things off that she didn't like or didn't find use for. "Shall I store this on the Stark Industries central database?"

"Actually," He looked over to Melody, giving her a small smile. "Mel's the only one I trust right now." She gave a smile without looking at him, still continuing to work. "Til further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"

Tony joined Melody, commenting on the things she had done, all good. "Working on a secret project, are we?"

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands." He thought back on his experience in Afghanistan and all the destruction that suit had caused. "Maybe in mine it can actually do some good." Melody gave him a sad smile as he put his arm around her shoulders. "I know this seems like a lot, but we can do this." She nodded while looking at the suit. It had slimmed down, it wasn't as bulky and would now have room for more; all making the suit better in every way. "We can do this."

_**This chapter is really slow and I'm sorry for that. It's kind of a filler chapter, showing her and Clint making up and how she's going to start searching for SHIELD stuff. I hope you like it and please review!**_


	7. More Secrets

Tony and Melody were working on the legs of the new suit, making them much lighter and more efficient than the first suit with all the technology they had here. Dummy was helping Tony with the right leg as Melody worked on the left leg solo. "Up." Tony instructed the robot. "Not in the boot, Dummy, right here." Melody smiled a little at the way he would bicker with his robots when her phone right next to her began ringing. When she picked it up, she saw that it was Clint. "You're no benefit at all." She hit the ignore button with a sigh and put it back down, continuing to work on the leg. "I'm sorry. Am I in your way?" She hadn't told him about any of this, but he also hadn't told her what was really going on with him. She still felt bad either way. "Screw it. Don't even move." When she heard Tony talk, she hadn't realized that she had stopped working on the leg. "Are you okay, Mel?" He asked her without looking.

She shook her head, picked up her screw driver and began working again. "Sorry, I just got a little distracted."

Tony nodded, knowing she wasn't totally telling the truth, but knew she didn't want to talk about. "You are a tragedy." He told Dummy to make Melody think he had dropped the issue.

"I think I'm done." Melody spoke after a few silent minutes of working.

"So am I." He spoke as made the leg open and close back up. Melody did the same, showing that she was done. "Time to test it out."

He picked up both legs and began putting them on as Melody was trying to process what had just happened. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we just made them."

"You have to test it out, Melody. That's science."

Melody rolled her eyes as he walked over, set up his camera and moved to an empty place where he could test out the legs. "Okay," He spoke as Melody took off her goggles, crossing her arms, a little upset that he was trying it out this early. "Let's do this right."

Melody flipped around a screw driver like she was bored. "If you would give it some time I could put a whole lot more things on that leg to make it work better and make it easier to fly."

"Quiet, you." Tony told her with a point of the finger. "And don't play with tools." She rolled her eyes as she set the screw driver down next to her and went back to crossing her arms. "Start mark, half a meter, and back and center." He spoke as he moved into position. Tony took a nervous breath, getting ready to fly. "Dummy, look alive. You're on standby for fire safety."

Dummy looked over at Melody as she rolled her eyes and then back at Tony to watch for fire. "This should be interesting." Melody mumbled while watching her uncle as she shook her head. "Really, really interesting."

"Okay, activate hand controls." He spoke to himself as got his controls ready. "We're going to start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift."

"Who are you talking to?" Melody asked, just wanting to upset him since he had done it to her.

"Video diary!" He practically yelled. "You're a scientist. You should know this."

"I'm just fucking with you." She spoke playfully with a smile.

"You're no longer allowed to talk." He told her before counting down and hitting the button on his control, sending him flying back into the wall.

Melody put a hand to her mouth as her jaw dropped and she waited for some sign of life from him. "Tony?!" She called out, now getting worried when he groaned and Dummy turned the fire extinguisher on Tony, causing Melody to bite her lip, trying to keep from laughing, imagining Tony's face right now.

* * *

"Jarvis?" Melody called once she got into her room for the night.

"Yes, Miss. Barnes?"

"Anything on the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Division?"

"We should really come up with a nickname for that." Jarvis spoke as Melody rolled her eyes at him.

She usually loved it when Jarvis was sarcastic, but now was not the time. "Come on, Jarvis. This is important."

"Nothing yet on the search."

"What?!" Melody practically screamed. "I know they're a secret division, but they have to be on the internet somewhere."

"If they are, Miss. Barnes, I assure you that I will find it."

"Thanks." She spoke as she began to pull the blankets to her, ready to go to sleep.

"Miss. Barnes," Jarvis began in a careful voice. "I know this isn't any of my business, but spying on Mr. Barton isn't a good way to get the truth out of him."

"Jarvis, you're a robot. You don't know how relationships work."

"Oh contraire," She rolled her eyes as he spoke, knowing he would have something to say about it. "I have the entire internet as my grasp. I know everything there is to know about relationships with the press of a button." Melody sighed as she pulled the blankets over her and got comfortable. "And I think that if you just asked Mr. Barton-"

"Mute." Melody called as the lights slowly dimmed to nothing and she began to fall asleep.

* * *

Melody waited in her car for Clint to get out for lunch. She had the phone pressed to her ear, waiting as it rang. "_You've reached Agent Coulson,_" Melody let out a growl that Agent Coulson still wasn't answering her calls. "_I'm sorry I can't answer the phone right now, but just leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can._"

Melody sighed as she heard the beep from the machine. "Hi, Agent Coulson, this is Melody Barnes…again. I would really appreciate it if you would call me back soon because I have some questions about the Strategic Homeland…you know what I mean." Melody was getting really tired of saying that agency's name. "That thing is a mouthful. You need to get it changed pronto." Melody sighed again, knowing that if Agent Coulson hadn't called back on her first few calls, he was never going to call back. "You know how to get in touch with me. Please call me back."

Right when she hung up, the door opened and Clint got in her car. "Hey." She spoke cheerfully as he leaned in to kiss her.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in a while." He told her while looking into the blue eyes he hadn't seen in days.

"I know," She spoke apologetically, trying to not give away that she was suspicious of her and Tony's secret project or the fact that she didn't totally trust him anymore. "I've just been spending a lot of time with Tony after everything that happened."

"I understand." He grabbed her hand and Melody smiled up at him, feeling a rush of guilt, suddenly wanting to tell him everything. "Where do you want to go for lunch? We have an hour."

She shook her head with a smile, knowing that no matter what he did she was always going to love him. "Anywhere as long as I'm with you."

After their lunch date, Melody dropped Clint back off at his "work" and she went home to work on the suit with Tony. Once she dropped him off, a red Chevrolet Corvette drove up to him, Phil Coulson sitting in the driver's seat. "Get in."

"Nice to see you too, Phil." He spoke as he opened the door and sat in the car.

"What's going on with Melody?" He asked him as they drove off.

He shrugged. "She's just been spending time with her uncle. That's it."

"Something major happened to Tony Stark while he was in Afghanistan." Clint nodded in agreement. "Melody has to know what it is."

Clint shrugged. "I'm not sure if she does."

"How long has it been since the two of you saw each other last?"

Clint looked down, playing with his hands. "About a week."

"Is that normal?"

Clint sighed while looking out at the buildings they passed by. "No."

Coulson nodded, knowing he was right. "Find out why she's been so distant."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Clint asked, annoyed with everything they asked him do that involved Melody lately.

"I don't care. Just get it done." Clint nodded while looking out at the buildings again. "She's getting suspicious of us and she'll find out about us eventually." Coulson pulled up to Clint's apartment, turning to him for the first time in the entire drive. "You know it will happen."

Clint nodded as he looked back to him, getting annoyed with Coulson more than usual lately. "Yeah, I know."

Coulson nodded as Clint got out of his car, looking back to what was right in front of him with his sunglasses on. "By the way," Clint looked back to him as he was about to walk into his apartment building. "Natasha is inside waiting for you. She wants to catch up before she goes on her new mission."

Clint nodded, giving Coulson a wave before heading into his building. "Thanks for the ride, Coulson."

He nodded and drove off as Clint shook his head, thinking about the entire situation as he climbed up the stairs of his apartment building. He didn't know how he was going to ask Melody what was going on with her and Tony lately. The two were inseparable more than usual and apparently from what Pepper says, they spend all day in the workshop. They were working on something top secret, something they weren't even telling Pepper and Clint about. He wanted to know what. He needed to know what for SHIELD.

When he walked into his apartment door, he saw Natasha lying on his couch, watching some movie as he put his keys down on the table right next to the door. "This is a nice little flat you've got here." She spoke in a fake British accent as she moved her feet so he could sit down next to her.

"Did you break in here?" He asked her as he began watching the movie she was.

"Maybe." She spoke as she finally looked to him, giving him a slight smirk.

"How long have you been in England? Your accent is almost as good as mine."

"Oh?" She began while giving his leg a light kick as he hit her on the arm playfully. "Obviously my British accent is good enough to trick the people who live there."

Clint rolled his eyes as he turned back to the movie. "Barely."

"So how's your assignment over here going?" Natasha asked in a playful voice. "With baby Stark?"

Clint rolled his eyes as he shook his head, annoyed with how she was talking about her. "Don't call her that."

"Well isn't it true?" Natasha scoffed, thinking about a few months ago before he went into this mission. "You said so yourself that she was going to be nothing but a spoiled brat and that you hated the thought of doing this."

"Well she's not." He told her angrily while turning to her. "She's different from what I thought."

Natasha's mouth dropped as she realized something. "Holy shit. You like her."

He shrugged while turning back to the movie. "A little more than like." Natasha's eyes widened as she leaned forward and turned off the TV. "Hey!" Clint complained as she threw the remote back on the coffee table.

"Are you in love with her?" Clint looked away from her, trying to hide his smile. "Oh my god." She told him with a growing smile. "You're totally in love with her." He rolled his eyes at her when she pulled his face to her, studying every feature until she had her answer. "You're in love with her. It's all over your face." She let go of him as he sat back into the couch, now blushing. "You're in love with Melody Barnes. Holy shit. Did not see that one coming."

"Drop it." He told he before getting up, moving to the kitchen, Natasha just following.

"No." She protested while crossing her arms. "This is huge. This is the first time since Bobbi." Clint went to the fridge, pulled out two sodas and handed one to her, not distracting her for a minute about this topic. "How long have you been in love with her? Is it different than it was with Bobbi? What is she gonna wear at the wedding?"

"Nat," He laughed out while looking at her. "You're the little sister I've never had that I'm starting to regret."

"Why aren't you making this a big deal?"

"Because." He answered simply as he sipped on his soda.

She put her soda down and studied him. "What's going on? There's something going on with the two of you and I want to know what it is."

He sighed and shrugged. "She's been pulling away from me ever since Coulson got involved with Stark."

Natasha nodded, finally understanding. "She's getting suspicious." He nodded while looking down, hating the fact of them pulling away. "You have to tell her." Clint looked back up at her with a shocked face. "Everything."

"You want me to tell her why I was sent in?" Natasha looked down while taking a deep breath, knowing how anyone would react to that news. "That will destroy her."

"And if you love her," Natasha began as she looked up at him. "You would tell her the truth and she would continue to love you after you give her some time. If you let her figure it out on her own she will never forgive you."

Clint nodded, thinking about how he was even going to begin to tell her. "I know."

Natasha moved to him, giving him a smile. "I have to get going. Fury has another assignment for me. I'm starting to miss our partner work."

Clint laughed before pulling her into a hug. "Be careful."

"Always am, Barton." She told him once she let go and began to walk out the door. "Good luck with Melody."

"I'll need it." He told her as the door shut. Clint began to look around at his apartment, memories of Melody all over the place. "How the hell do I tell Melody?"

* * *

Next on their list was to work on the arms to balance out how powerful the leg thrusters were. Melody was working on the metal frame as Tony's arm sat in it, supervising. "You got the part on the-"

"Tony," She spoke with an annoyed tone without looking up at him. "I've got it. I designed this entire arm. I don't think I'll forget anything."

Tony nodded, while sitting back. This was weird for him. Her entire life he was telling her what to do when it came to mechanical engineering and now she was telling him. He had to accept that she was grown up and was now becoming a leader. She was in charge of weapons design while he was missing and now she was designing the new suit. It was actually kind of hard for him to watch her do this. She had grown up in those three months and he wasn't even there to see it.

Pepper walked into the workshop with a box and a two coffee mugs on top of it. "I've been buzzing both of you." She told them, Melody not even looking up. "Did you hear the intercom?"

"Yeah." Tony told her once Melody stepped away, letting him feel what it was going to be like since she was now done with the frame of the arm. "What?"

"Obadiah and Clint are upstairs-"

"Great." Tony said, cutting her off, just wanting to get back to work.

"Melody, you have a date tonight."

"What?" She asked looking up from the arm as Pepper moved forward, studying the arm.

"I thought you said you were done making weapons." She spoke as Melody moved to stand right by her, trying to get a better look of the arm.

"We are." Melody told her as Pepper looked back from her to the arm.

"This is a flight stabilizer." Tony explained. "It's completely harmless." Tony then used the controls to let the power from the arc reactor control the arms, sending him flying back from the power and Pepper and Melody covering themselves. Once it was done, Pepper and Melody looked over at Tony who was lying down on the ground with wide eyes. "I didn't expect that."

Pepper looked to Melody while pointing at the stairs, still shocked from what happened. "Go get ready for your date."

Melody nodded, not wanting to argue with Pepper and walked up the steps, seeing Obadiah playing the piano and Clint sitting on the couch. He rolled her eyes when he saw her. "Did you forget?"

"No," She spoke as she ran to the stairs to get to her room. "Its like a casino down there. There's no clocks."

Obadiah stopped playing and looked over to Clint. "Stark may not be in her last name, but she sure is one."

Shortly after, Pepper walked up the steps and then Tony, who had cleaned himself up after he threw himself back. Obadiah was back to playing the piano and when he saw Clint sitting on the couch, he smiled and moved to sit next to him. "How did it go?" He asked Obadiah. Obadiah just looked up at him and continued playing when Tony looked down, noticing the box of pizza. "Wow, that bad?" He asked as he leaned down and took a pizza out of the box. He looked over to Clint, opening the box for him. "You want one?"

"Why not?" He asked as he leaned forward and picked up a slice. "It's not like I'm going to dinner any time soon." He looked up at the ceiling, imagining Melody hurrying to get ready and still not going fast enough for them to make their reservations.

"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean that it went bad."

"Uh huh." He spoke sarcastically, knowing this was his favorite pizza place in New York. "Sure it doesn't."

"Would have gone better if you were there." He told him as he stopped playing and looked to Tony.

"No," Tony told him as Obadiah got up from the piano with his drink and moved towards everyone else. "You told me to lay low. That's what I've been doing. I lay low and you take care of all…" He drifted off while digging into his pizza, forgetting how much he had missed it.

"Hey, come on. In _public_. The press. This was a board of directors meeting."

Tony's eyes went wide as Obadiah sat next to him. "This was a board of directors meeting?"

"The board is claiming that you have post-traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction."

"A what?!" Tony asked through a full mouth, causing Clint to look up at them shocked.

"They want to lock you out."

"Why? Because the stocks dipped forty points? We knew that was going to happen."

"Fifty-six and a half." Pepper corrected.

"It doesn't matter." Tony practically yelled while turning to Pepper, Clint sinking into his seat, uncomfortable with being in the middle of the argument. "We own the controlling interest in the company."

Pepper looked away from him, not wanting to argue. "Tony," Obadiah began calmly, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was. "The board has rights too. They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest and-"

"I'm being responsible!" Tony barked back, not even letting him finish his sentence. "That's a new direction for me and the company. I mean me on the company's half being responsible." He spoke the last part, trying not to offend Obadiah and Pepper.

"And Melody _is_ in the company's best interest." Obadiah finally finished.

Both Tony and Clint looked at him in shock. "They want to make Melody CEO?" Tony asked him slowly.

Obadiah shrugged. "If she's up for it."

"Why?" Tony asked. He had to admit that he was slightly jealous of his little Melody taking over his spot as CEO. "Melody just graduated college."

"She's got an impressive resume." Obadiah began, giving him the reasons why Melody was the best choice. "She has an IQ over 170. She's-"

"Not me?" Tony guessed while standing up and grabbing the pizza box.

"Oh, come on." Obadiah sighed out as he rolled his head back. "Tony. Tony!"

"I'll be in the shop." He told him as he began to walk towards the steps.

Melody was starting to come down from upstairs, wearing a lacy white dress and her hair braided back with just a little bit of make up on. "Tony," Obadiah called as he moved up to him, grabbing him by the shoulder. No one had noticed Melody yet which she took advantage of to find out what was going on. "I'm trying to turn this thing around, I don't think Melody is ready for the responsibility of being CEO yet either, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them." Melody's mouth dropped, not believing any of this. Obadiah had practically shoved CEO in her face a month ago and now she wasn't ready for the responsibility yet? Now she had to watch out for Obadiah too. "Let me have the engineers analyze that." He told Tony while pointing at the arc reactor. "You know, draw up some specs."

"No." Tony said instantly. "Absolutely not."

"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York." Obadiah began talking over Tony.

"This one stays with me. That's it, Obi. Forget it."

He turned around as Obadiah grabbed the pizza box in his hands. "Alright, this stays with me, then." Tony looked at him upset that he was keeping his favorite pizza from him. "You can have a piece." He told him as he opened the pizza box for him. "Take two."

"Thank you." Tony told him as he took out a piece of pizza.

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?" Obadiah asked as Tony began to walk down the steps of the workshop.

"Goodnight, Obi."

Once Melody was sure that Tony was gone, she continued down the steps, forcing a smile and looking to Clint. "Are you ready?" She asked him.

Clint stood up and nodded, still trying to process everything that just happened. "Have fun, you two." Obadiah said as they walked by him. Melody turned her head back to Obadiah who was giving her a smile. She gave him a slight one back as they got to the front door. Obadiah was starting to really worry her and she couldn't tell Tony about it, picking up on how upset he was that Melody would probably be taking over as CEO. She had to keep this one completely to herself. Out of all the problems she was having recently, she always had someone to tell, but now this secret was all hers.


	8. We Need To Stick Together

_**I was so surprised with how this chapter came out. It was the longest and some things that I didn't think was going to happen until the end happened. I hope you guys like it.**_

Tony was getting the legs and arms set up to test it out as Melody held the camera up to her face for the video diary. "I hate doing these things." She told the camera. "I feel like an insane person talking to a camera. I'd much rather just write down notes." She scratched her head and fixed her hair before looking back to the camera. "Anyways, the arms and the legs are done and Tony's about to test them out while Dummy is on fire watch and I'm making notes and standing by to call someone if Tony dies."

"I can hear you." Tony called once he was finished setting up the arm and leg parts of the suit.

"That's the whole point." Melody called out before looking back to the camera. "Anyways, here we go." She set the camera up as he stood in the same spot as before. "Last will and testament?"

"Very funny." He commented dryly before looking to the camera. "Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety." Melody looked to Dummy who was now right by her with a smirk. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college." Dummy moved over to him while pointing the nozzle put on him down in shame. "Nice and easy. Seriously, we're going to start off with 1% thrust capacity."

Melody nodded, hitting the button on the program she designed for the suit, putting the thrusters at 1%. Tony counted down and then used the arc reactor's power to operate the hands and feet, lifting him off the ground. "Cool." Melody mumbled as he slowly eased himself to the ground.

Tony looked over at Dummy who was constantly following him around for the entire ride. "Please don't follow me around with it either." Dummy put his head down in shame again, making Melody feel a little bad for the robot even if it obviously didn't have feelings. "Because I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously." He turned back to the camera while pointing at Dummy. "Just stand down! If something happens then come up!" He looked over at Melody and nodded. "Let's bring it to 2.5."

Melody felt like it was a bad idea, but she wasn't going to say anything to Tony, knowing he was going to come up with a better reason. "Whatever you say, Tony." She really didn't want to argue so she bumped the thrusters to 2.5%. This time when Tony was in the air, he was higher than before and was very wobbly as he moved. "Tony!" Melody called out nervously as he began to lose control of where he was going.

He began flying over the cars, his face showing fear. "Okay," He spoke in the best calm face he could do. "This is where I don't want to be." He flew over all the cars, the fire from the thrusters, hitting them slightly. "Not the car." He whispered. "Not the car." He got away from the cars, but went right to the table Melody was sitting at. "Mel, watch out!" She ducked under the table as papers flew around, the fire getting right where Melody was sitting before. Tony let out a frightened cry as Melody got out from under the table.

"Tony!" Melody yelled out once he got away from her, hovering over the pad they had started out on.

"Could be worse." He told her. "We're fine!"

"I don't think fine is the right adjective." She told him as he straightened himself out and slowly let himself down, shocking Melody.

Once he got down, he looked to Melody while throwing his hands in the air as she gave him an impressed nod. He looked back over to Dummy who began to lift his nozzle up to him. "No! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" Tony yelled before Dummy put the nozzle back down, ashamed. "Yeah, I can fly."

"What?!" Melody yelled at him as he began to walk towards her, shutting off the camera.

"Yeah." He moved towards her with a thinking face. "How's that machine coming that takes off the suit without me lifting a finger?"

"Tony, I hardly think that little stunt means you can fly now."

"Melody," He told her as he reached forward to grab her face in his hands.

"Don't touch my face." She protested as he grabbed it anyway.

She rolled her eyes as she sighed. "You have to learn to take risks."

She shook her head while looking into his eyes. "I don't like risks."

"We need risks to live."

"I think that if we all just stopped taking risks, all of our problems will just slowly drift away."

He rolled his eyes at her as he let go of her cheeks. "I can fly." He told her as he walked past her. Melody threw her hands in the air as he continued to walk off.

* * *

Melody and Clint walked through the gates of the cemetery, Melody looking back at Clint nervously as he shut the gates with the flowers in his hands. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked him as he joined her in walking down the path. "I mean, the whole thing is a little morbid. I can easily do it by myself."

"No." He told her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I know how important your dad was to you and I know that you'll never be able to introduce me to your dad so I'd rather us do this."

She nodded while taking a deep breath, continuing to lead him down the pathway to the rest of the cemetery. Melody had always hated cemeteries, but once her dad was put in one, she had to get used to it. They had reached James's headstone when Melody turned around to look at Clint. "I'm sorry if you see me cry. I haven't been here in a while."

He gave her a small smile as he shook his head. "I've seen you cry before."

She smiled at him before sitting down in front of his headstone, Clint standing behind her. "Hi, Daddy." She spoke, her voice already teary. "I know it's been a while, but I'm here now." She looked away from the headstone, feeling a tear already fall down her face. "And I need you now more than ever." Melody wanted to tell him all about the CEO thing, she wanted his advice on it. She wanted to rant to him about all the secrets Clint was keeping from her. She wanted his advice on it. She wanted to tell him all about the suit they were making, even get his help. The one thing she wanted most in the whole world was advice from her dad; something no one could give her.

Melody looked back at Clint and motioned for him to sit next to her. One thing she really wanted was for him to actually meet Clint. "Dad, this is my boyfriend, Clint." Clint smiled down at the headstone, wishing, just like Melody, that he could have met her dad. Melody looked back to Clint, leaning into his arms. "I really love him." He kissed the temple of her head as she moved back to look at the headstone. "I think he's a keeper."

"Sir," Clint began while looking back to the headstone. "I have never loved anyone more than I love your daughter and I will take really good care of her." He looked back to Melody, looking at her bright smile through her tears. "I think she's a keeper."

* * *

Melody was getting the machine Tony needed ready. She had been working on it as a side project since they started making the suit. And now they were trying it out for the first time tonight now that the suit was all assembled. The machine finished screwing in the last bolts, locking him in the suit as Tony put on his mask. "Jarvis, you there?" Tony asked as Melody put in her ear piece so she could talk to Tony and listen in on what he and Jarvis were saying along with what Tony was hearing.

"At your service, sir."

Melody was walking around the suit, checking every little thing she could. "Engage heads up display?" Melody asked, beginning to list off things that needed to be working.

"Check."

"Import all preferences from home interface." Tony instructed.

"Will do, sir."

"How does it look?" Melody asked, kind of wishing she was able to see what she and Tony had invented.

"Pretty great, Mel."

Melody smiled and pushed in her ear piece while walking to the back of the suit. "What do you say, Jarvis?"

"I have indeed been uploaded. We're online and ready."

"Can we start the virtual walk around?" Tony asked.

"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment." Jarvis informed.

"Do a check on control surfaces." Melody instructed.

"As you wish." Every part of the suit began moving as if going through its own check list. "Test complete." Jarvis spoke as Melody smiled, about to take off her ear piece. "Preparing to power down and began diagnostics."

"Uh," Melody stopped moving the ear piece out of her ear, knowing Tony enough to know that he was going to do something stupid. "Tell you what, do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control."

"Tony," She began in a warning voice as Jarvis said, "Sir,"

"There are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is possible-"

"Jarvis!" Tony called, cutting him off. "Sometimes you have to run before you can walk."

"Tony," She called, causing him to cringe. "This is stupid. You're going to kill yourself."

"What did we talk about with taking risks?" Tony asked Melody.

"Tony!" She yelled again as he counted down and moved out of the workshop through the garage drive way. Melody stood there for a moment, not being able to process what just happened. "I am going to kill you!" She yelled into her microphone as she heard Tony yell from the excitement.

"Handles like a dream." He commented, ignoring Melody's threat. "Alright, let's see what this thing can do. What's the SR-71's record?"

"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is 85,000 feet, sir."

"No." Melody told him immediately.

That only made Tony want to do it more. "Records are made to be broken!"

Melody let out an annoyed breath back in the workshop, starting to think that Tony didn't deserve the suit. "Sir, there is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring."

"Keep going!" Tony yelled.

"Tony, you're going to get yourself killed!" Melody was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. "Tony!" She yelled again followed by Tony's screaming of distress.

Tony was now falling through the air and Melody couldn't do one thing about it. "We iced up, Jarvis! Deploy flaps!" The suit wasn't working though. He had too much ice and nothing was working. "Come on, we have to break the ice!" He continued to fall as Melody began hyperventilating. The power finally came back on right before he hit the road, saving himself. He cheered as he began to fly towards the house and Melody felt angrier than ever. Tony was hovering over the roof of the house when he said, "Kill power." sending him falling down through the floors, crushing the piano on the way through and one of the cars once he landed in the workshop.

Dummy set the fire extinguisher off on Tony as Melody stood up, took the ear piece out of her ear and threw it down at Tony. "You're an ass hole."

"Mel!" Tony began as he tried to get up, but fell back down. "Dummy!" Tony yelled as the extinguisher stopped. "Cut it out!"

"What were you hoping to accomplish?!" She yelled, turning back around to face him, still in the suit. Tony was staring at her sympathetically, not knowing what to say. "You knew it was dangerous! You _knew_ and you did it anyway!" Melody shook her head at him, she had never been more disappointed of Tony in her life. "You know for a genius you're a real dumbass." She turned around and began towards the stairs. "Good luck figuring how to get that suit off without knowing how to use the machine I made because you were too busy to learn how to use it."

Tony looked over at the machine and then at the suit. He had no idea how this was going to work. He slowly walked over to the machine and pressed a button, only getting the chest plate taken off. "Crap." Tony mumbled, realizing he had no idea how to get the rest of it off.

* * *

Melody was blaring music in her room as she went through her closet, finding her gown for the benefit tonight. Hers was a tight, sexy black dress with jewels around the waist and a slit up to her knee on the right leg. Melody was still pissed from their adventure last night and Clint was on his way to pick her up as her date. Tony didn't know anything about the benefit and she was going to tell him until he decided to be an idiot.

Melody put on her dress, fixed her old Hollywood curls in the mirror and hurried down the stairs just in time for Clint to knock on the door. When he saw her without Tony he began to look around what he could see of the living room. "I thought you were gonna tell Tony about the benefit."

"Well, I hate him right now so…"

She shut the door and Clint gave her a tired look, ready to listen to what drama was happening in the Stark household as he took her arm and lead her into the car. "What happened?" He asked as he slid into the back seat.

"Hi, Happy." Melody told him quickly before turning back to Clint, ready to rant. "Tony's just an inconsiderate ass hole."

"You're just figuring that out?" Happy asked while looking to them in the rearview mirror.

"I _thought_ that being held in captivity for three fucking months and almost dying would be a changing experience for him. Maybe make him smarter and maybe appreciate his family a little more, but nope." She looked back to Clint and shook her head. "Still a prick."

"I swear that this is the most I've heard you cuss in a small span of time."

"Yeah," Happy agreed from the front. "What happened to little Melody who would gasp when she heard a curse word?"

"What?!" Clint laughed out while looking to her, Melody's cheeks already growing red.

"Yeah," Happy began to laugh out as Melody watched the two with a slight smile. "If Tony would accidentally let a word slip out, she would gasp so loud and Tony's mouth would drop once he realized what he did and she got to punch him every time he said a bad word."

"Melody," Clint laughed as she looked to him. "You were such a cute little kid."

Melody crossed her arms with a smile, thinking about when they first made that deal. She sighed while looking back and forth from Happy to Clint. "I guess I kind of love Tony." They both nodded to her, causing her to lean back into her seat, knowing this petty argument wasn't worth her and Tony's time after everything they had been through in the last few months. "I hate it when you two are right."

Once they got to the benefit, the press tried to hound them down, but Happy did a good job of blocking them off for Melody and Clint. A few people asked for a kiss from the two, another reporter asked Clint's opinion on Tony's behavior and another reporter asked Melody if she was going to be the new CEO. Naturally, Melody stopped walking after that last question. She had no idea how to feel about the entire topic.

Clint put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her into the large ballroom and away from the press. "Are you alright, Mel?" Happy asked her.

She just let out a distracted nod before looking to Happy. "Can you get me a drink?" He nodded and waited for her to tell him what she wanted. She put a hand on her head, trying to calm herself down. "I don't care what it is as long as it has vodka in it. A lot of vodka."

Happy walked off before clapping Clint on the shoulder, giving him a "good luck" look. Clint turned to her, grabbing her arm and staring right into her eyes. "You know, don't you?" Melody took a deep breath and nodded. "When?"

"The day we had the date and I was rushing to get everything done." Melody explained quickly while rubbing her head, not quite sure what to do. "He tried to offer that to me so fast when Tony was missing." Melody was close to tears, puddles already collecting in her eyes.

Clint was studying her worriedly. He had never seen her this flustered before. "You need to sit down." He moved her over to an empty table, moving a chair right in front of her. He put his hands on her face and rubbed a tear off that had somehow escaped. "Baby," He began, feeling absolutely terrible that she was sitting there like that. "We can go."

She shook her head and wiped off the small tears that were continuing to fall. "I don't want to go."

"Melody," Clint began in a careful voice. "I don't want you to stay here if you're going to be taunted by reporters, Tony and Obadiah."

She shook her head again, her face not as soft as it was before, now harder like she had rid herself of sadness in a matter of seconds. "I'm a Stark." She laughed a little bit. "We're practically trained for this stuff."

Clint smiled at her, admiring how strong she was. Knowing that she was the only person he knew who could do something like that. "Alright, love," He began while helping her up from her seat.

"Miss. Barnes." Happy came up with her drank and she took it from him while slipping a fifty dollar bill in his hand.

"Happy, I love you. You're a part of my family and I know there's so much more things you could be doing right now. So go out and have some fun. Don't worry about me or Tony. Just worry about yourself for a night."

Happy smiled at her and pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek. "You're better than all of these Stark employees put together."

"Have fun, Hap." He gave her one last smile before walking towards the door. Clint looked to her, staring in wonderment. "What?" She asked before hitting him on the shoulder.

"Nothing," He told her while grabbing her hand as she sipped her drink. "I just couldn't think of a better person I could have beside me."

Melody downed her drink and put it on the empty table before pulling Clint to the dance floor. The two danced formally, knowing everyone was watching them. They were always in the press garbage. Everyone knew they were a couple and a lot of people didn't approve. He was forty and Melody was twenty-two. They got a lot of frowns, but Melody didn't care because she didn't feel like it was important at all. They were in love. The sooner everyone accepted that, the happier everyone would be.

Clint looked over at the bar, seeing Tony and Coulson. Clint took a deep breath and pointed over to the bar. When Melody looked, her eyes softened and Clint let go of her hands just as her feet took off. "Get me a scotch. I'm starving." Tony told the bartender.

"I'm sorry." Melody blurted out once she got up to him.

He turned around, giving her a sympathetic stare. "No, I'm sorry."

"Do you forgive me?"

"Do _you_ forgive _me_?"

They both wrapped each other in a hug while swaying back and forth. "I love you." She told him quickly.

"I love you more." He told her as they continued to rock.

"Mr. Stark?" They both broke out of their hug to turn to see Agent Coulson. "I'm Agent Coulson from-"

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Melody spoke quickly, cutting him off. Tony gave her a confused stare, but she was just glad that he was here. That she would actually have a chance to talk to him.

"God," Tony spoke once he got his drink and took a sip of it. "You need a new name for that."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot." Melody was practically shaking with excitement at his presence. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you." Tony nodded before looking straight ahead, distracted by Pepper who was wearing a gorgeous silky blue dress without a back. "There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things." Before he was done talking, Tony had already made it up in his mind that as soon as Agent Coulson was done talking, he was going straight over to Pepper. "Let's just put something on the books. Let's say the 24th at 7 pm at Stark Industries."

"Tell you what," Tony began, still in awe of Pepper, holding his hand out without even looking at Agent Coulson. "You got it. You're absolutely right." He finally turned to Coulson as Melody looked over at Pepper, understanding Tony's behavior. "Well, I'm going to go over to my assistant and we'll make a date."

Tony walked off, over to Pepper as Melody turned to look at Agent Coulson. "Agent Coulson," Melody began, moving closer to him. "I've been calling you and I haven't gotten a response."

He nodded politely. "I've received your calls, Miss. Barnes, but I haven't been given a chance to call back yet, my apologizes."

She shook her head, a smile spreading throughout her face. "No, it's okay. I assume you're a busy man, but I just have a few questions about the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

He gave her a wider smile. "I'm surprised you memorized that name."

She shrugged with a shy smile. "I have a high IQ." She told him quickly, just wanting to get into her questions. "So, I haven't found any bit of your division on the internet and I know you're a secret and all, but-"

"Miss. Barnes," Coulson spoke suddenly, seeming a little annoyed, not at Melody, but at Clint. He felt bad for the poor girl. She was a part of all of this and she was completely blind. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but if you want real information on our division, I would ask Mr. Barton." Melody's eyebrows furrowed, her smile now gone. "He knows a lot more about the situation than you think." Coulson gave her a sad smile, hating the look of her face. She was shocked and confused, so much it looked like she was breaking in half. "I'm sorry, Miss. Barnes. I really am."

With that, he turned around and walked towards the doors. Melody stood there for a moment, taking in everything he had just told her. Every time she asked Clint about work, he would switch the conversation to something else. Something about her. She realized that she didn't even know what the company was called that he was working for. Whenever she asked him about it, all he would tell her was that it was a government agency. He said he was doing security, but now she didn't believe any of it. For the first time since she met him, she had no trust left for Clint Barton.

She turned to the bartender and took a deep breath. "I need a lot of alcohol and I need it right now." He looked to all of his bottles behind the bar and back to her, not knowing what she wanted. "Bourbon." She finally answered. "Lots and lots of bourbon."

He gave her the first drink which she downed quickly then signaled for him to pour her another one. "Melody," Obadiah began as he sat next to her. "It's nice to see you here. I don't think I saw you when you were coming in."

"Yeah," She breathed out, taking the drink in her hands, but not drinking it yet. "Funny what you don't see when you first get into something."

"Anyways," Obadiah began in a confused tone, not knowing what she meant by that previous sentence. "I would like to talk to you about what the board of directors are talking about involving you and-"

"You know," She began while turning to him. "I'm not really comfortable talking about me becoming CEO of Stark Industries while we're at a benefit for firefighters. It seems a little selfish, doesn't it?" He opened his mouth to say something, but Melody beat him to it. "You didn't think I knew about that, did you?"

"Melody," He began in a careful voice, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was. "You are the only person left-"

"Get out of my face, Obi, before I make a scene." She looked murderous in that moment because Melody was now done with all the bullshit. She felt like everyone looked at her as an innocent, sweet little girl for a long time. Someone people could just roll over. Someone who didn't have any real strength and Melody was tired of it.

Obadiah slowly walked away from her and she was halfway through her second drink when Clint walked up to her. "Honey," He began through a smile as she chugged the rest of her drink. "What are you doing?"

She slammed her drink down on the counter loudly, drawing attention from a few people nearby. "Funny," She commented as she signaled the bartender to give her another drink. "Because that's exactly the question I want to ask you."

"Melody," Clint began calmly, getting the same vibe everyone was getting from her. That she was pissed. "Obadiah just told me about your conversation and-"

She turned to him, upset, with her third drink in her hand. "Let me tell you about another little conversation I had tonight with Agent Coulson." Clint's eyes grew wide, just hoping he didn't drop the bomb on her. "Yeah," She told him before sipping her drink. "He told me that if I wanted to know about the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division that I should ask Mr. Barton because he knows a lot more about the situation than I think."

She sat there for a minute, both of them just staring at each other. "Melody," Clint began. "Listen to me."

"No," She told him angrily while still trying to keep quiet. "You need to listen to me." She finished her drink before she really laid into him, slamming it down on the counter even harder than the first time. "I've had suspicions about you since Tony came back because it's like you've never been frightened more than anything in your life when that division's name comes up. You know, you've never actually told me what or who you work for?" He looked down, ashamed. "Yeah. So, why don't you start telling me things? Because I am done with all this bullshit and lies and secrets. I _hate_ secrets. So start talking." He stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. He was in complete shock. "Clinton Francis Barton, if you say nothing, I am leaving."

Clint just stood there, looking her in the eyes, knowing nothing he could say now would change anything. He knew that he should have told her everything from the beginning, but he couldn't at first. That was his job description. Melody shook her head like she wasn't surprised with his decision. She hated the fact that all she expected from his mouth were lies now. If she could have gone back, she would have destroyed the part of her that was afraid to ask him in the beginning. She would have squashed that innocent part of her like a bug. "Goodbye, Clint." She walked away from him and Clint did nothing to stop her, knowing that would only make it worse. He did nothing to stop her even if every part of his heart was aching to grab her arm and tell her everything. He didn't want to hurt her any more than he already had.

Melody went to the other side of the bar, finding Tony putting a tip in the tip glass. "Hey, kid." He told her just as his drinks were brought to him. She tore one of the vodka martinis out of his hand and downed it in almost no time. "That was Pepper's." He told her as she put the glass down on the counter. "It's fine." He told her once he saw her face which was sad, but also angry. "I'll just get another."

He looked back to the bartender, signaling for another as Melody pointed at him, the alcohol finally kicking in and making her tipsy. "I hate everyone." She told him.

"You're preaching to the choir." He told her.

Melody opened her mouth to say more, but someone interrupted her. "Wow, Tony Stark, fancy seeing you here."

Melody rolled her eyes at the sight of her. Tony sat there for a moment, her name not coming to mind. "Carrie."

"Christine." She corrected quickly.

"Yeah," Melody began while giving her a smirk. "I don't think I would remember garbage's name either."

She gave Melody a glare with a smile as Melody did the same thing. One thing she was excellent at when she was drunk was fighting like a girl. Being dirty and bitchy. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight." Christine said as she turned away from Melody and back to Tony.

"It's his benefit." Melody spat out.

"Can I get a reaction from the two of you?"

"Panic." Tony told her.

Melody rolled her eyes and looked back at Christine. "To you, disgust."

"I would say panic is my reaction." Tony continued.

"I was referring to your company's involvement in the latest atrocity."

"Yeah," Tony told her with an eye roll. "They just put my name on the invitation. I don't know what to tell you."

"Shouldn't you be at home with your cat writing some story on how to wear white pants to a cookout?" Christine turned back to Melody. And Melody knew that if she wasn't in a classy public place, Christine would probably try to kick her ass. "I'm sure people would be absolutely lost without your extremely useless advice."

"I actually almost bought it. Hook, line and sinker."

"I've been out of town for a couple months, in case you didn't hear." Tony and Melody were both starting to get heated.

"Is this what you call accountability?" She asked as she handed him a few pictures. "It's a town called Gulmira." Right when he heard the name of the town, he looked to her with now serious eye, wanting to know just exactly what she was talking about. "Heard of it?"

Tony began flipping through the pictures as Melody stood watching over his shoulder. The entire town was destroyed and Stark Industries' weapons were all around it. One Melody actually designed recently. "When were these taken?" Melody asked, her eyes now wide.

"Yesterday." She growled at them.

"I didn't approve any shipment." Tony told her angrily.

"Well your _company _did."

"Well we're not our company." Melody told her before taking Tony's hand and leading him off to go find Obadiah.

When they finally found him, he was outside, saying goodnight to everyone. Melody was now a lot more sober, ready to confront Obadiah about this. "We have a situation." Tony told him right when they reached him. "Have you seen these pictures?" He asked him as he tried to shove them in his hands, but Obadiah kept waving to people. "What's going on in Gulmira?"

"Tony," He began calmly, pulling the two away. "Melody, you two can't afford to be this naïve."

"Don't patronize us, Obadiah!" Melody practically yelled out, causing Obadiah to look around nervously, not wanting to call any attention to them.

"We were naïve before when they said, 'here's the line. We don't cross it. This is how we do business.'" Melody looked at Obadiah, noticing he didn't look surprised at all. "If we're double-dealing under the table-"

"Wait," Melody spoke as she put her arm in front of Tony, still looking at Obadiah, his face still unchanging. "_Are_ we double-dealing under the table?"

Obadiah looked at the two and then looked to all the cameras that were on them, finding a time for a picture a good time to make sure they didn't cause a scene. "Let's take a picture." He told the two while turning around. Melody was in the middle with both of the men's arms around her waist and Melody's also around their waists. "Tony," Obadiah began as they posed without smiles. "Who do you think locked you out?" Melody turned her head closer to him, hoping that maybe she heard it wrong. "I was the one who filed the injunction against you and requested Melody to be the one to step up." Tony had never been stiffer in his life. The fact that the man he knew his whole life was now stabbing him in the back was tearing at his spine. "It's the only way I could protect you."

Obadiah walked off, leaving only Tony and Melody to watch him walk off. After a moment of silence, letting the information sink in, Tony turned to her. "We can't trust anyone anymore, Melly." She nodded in agreement. She couldn't trust Clint anymore. She couldn't trust Obadiah. She felt like the only person she could trust lately was Tony. "It's just the two of us now."

Melody looked back to him seriously. "No more petty arguments. You and I have to stick together."

"No matter what." Tony agreed. We have to stick together."

_**I hope you're all not too mad at me for the break up. That's not the last of Clint and Melody though! I would also like to give a huge thank you to Lilybear3121, All4TheBest and Micheal the Archangel for being the best reviews ever! I hope you enjoyed!**_


	9. Are Those Bullet Holes?

Tony and Melody walked into the house quietly. A lot had happened that night. A lot that Melody just wanted to forget. All she wanted was to have a nice sleep. "Mel," Tony called, stopping her right when she got close to the stairs. "Come down to the workshop. I want to show you something."

Melody threw her head back and sighed, but did as he said. When she got down to the workshop, Tony was going through a metal box. "I want to go to bed. What do you want to show me?"

Tony turned around, holding a tool kit with an envelope on top of it, looking down at it sadly, giving it a slight smile. That's when Melody knew that this was serious. "This was supposed to be your graduation present, but that didn't quite work out as we planned." She moved closer to him as Tony looked up at her for the first time. "Your mom got this for your dad when they got married." Melody felt tears already begin to collect in her eyes at that sentence. Two really sensitive topics were pushed into one. Tony was studying her sympathetically as he handed the tool kit and she stared down at it like she had no idea how to feel about it. "I know when you think about your mom, the emotion you usually get is anger, but, Melody, your mom loved you."

Melody looked up at him, still shocked that she could hold in her tears this long. "Then why did she leave?"

Tony moved in to give her a hug as she cried into his chest. "I don't know, baby."

Melody collected herself as much as she could to ask, "What's the envelope?"

Tony pulled away from her and handed it to her. "Your dad wrote it for you." Melody's eyes grew wide as she looked down at the envelope. Tony chuckled a little at her face. "You don't have to read it now." Melody nodded while looking up at him. "I didn't even expect you to read it today."

Melody nodded while picking up the envelope in her hands. It was a thick letter, something Melody knew she couldn't make it through reading without crying. "Do you miss him as much as I do?"

She looked up at him, noticing his eyes were also watery. "Every day."

Melody gave him a sad smile. "You should get some sleep." She told him as she moved closer to him, getting a better look at his face. "You have bags under your eyes."

"You don't look so great yourself." He bit back with a smile.

She rolled her eyes playfully and began to head to the stairs. "Goodnight, Tony."

"You better have good dreams." Tony told her as she got halfway up the stairs. "If not, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Love ya!" She called once she had made it all the way up the stairs.

"I love you, Melody." Tony whispered while looking up at the stairs. Even if everything was changing for both of them right now they could always count on having each other.

* * *

Melody was on her computer, designing some new weapons. Even though they were no longer making weapons, Melody loved designing new things. It was her creative outlet that helped her forget about everything that was happening lately.

Clint hadn't called her once since last night which she had mixed feelings about. She wanted to talk to him because she wanted to know all about what was happening, but then she also didn't because she didn't want any more wounds in her heart. "Miss. Barnes," Jarvis began in her room. "Mr. Stark is requesting your presence in the workshop?"

Melody looked up at the ceiling, wondering just exactly Tony was up to. "What does he want?"

"It's a surprise." Jarvis spoke in a bland tone. Melody rolled her eyes and put her computer on the bed, standing up from it and beginning to head down the stairs. "I'll give you a hint. It involves the suit you two have been working on."

Melody smiled a little bit at Jarvis right when she began down the workshop steps and saw Tony tinkering on the machine she had made to take off the suit. "What's up?" Melody asked, but soon noticed the glass walls were shattered. "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing." He explained quickly. "I had a tantrum." Melody looked back to the glass walls, never experiencing a Tony tantrum that got that bad. "It's nothing. Come here."

Melody walked through the previous glass wall and moved over to Tony, leaning on a table right in front of him. "Jarvis said this was about the suit. Do you need me to fix something?"

"Actually," Tony turned around and looked to the suit which was now done painting. "I wanted to try something with the suit." Melody's eyebrows furrowed before Tony threw the mask to her as she barely caught it. "I want you to put it on." Melody let out a little laugh like she thought he was joking, but quickly realized he wasn't. "Okay, what if something happens to me and I can't put on the suit?" Melody shook her head. "Come on, Mel."

"I'm fine from the sidelines." She spoke while shaking her head.

"Risks." He emphasized. Melody rolled her eyes and moved to the suit. "I just need to see if it will fit and then you're done."

Melody moved over to the pad cautiously and once she had stepped on it, the machine began locking her in the suit. Melody actually kind of liked the feeling of it. Once it was fully on, she put the mask to her face, revealing the screen. She was shown so many things in those small seconds, it had a euphoric feeling for her. She had helped Tony design this and she was finally experiencing what it was like. "It's amazing isn't it?" Tony asked her.

"Yeah." She breathed out.

"Jarvis," Tony began. "Remember Miss. Barnes in the suit and all of her personal preferences with it."

"Yes, sir."

"Also," Melody looked to Tony, not sure what else he could tell Jarvis to do with her in the suit. "Do a weather and ATC check. Listen in on ground control."

"What?!" Melody asked quickly.

"The suit is ready for flight."

"Tony," Melody began in a shaky voice.

"Risks." was all he said when the thrusters began to go off, raising Melody in the air. She let out a few sounds of terror as she tried to gain her balance. "Lock your legs." Tony advised. She did exactly what he said before the suit took off out the garage door as she screamed. "Have fun, Mel."

Melody was flying through the air, her legs locked as tight as possible and she was still yelling from fear. She had no idea how to really fly and knew she was more likely to end up in the ocean. "Tony," Melody began. "I am going to die."

"You are not going to die." He told her calmly. "You're too uptight. All you have to do is relax and let your hair down."

"My hair is down!" She yelled at him, hurting Tony's ear a little bit.

"That's more uptight than you were before."

Melody let out a growl. "Miss. Barnes," Jarvis began. "I would suggest looking down at the ocean."

Melody rolled her eyes and did was Jarvis said. She was flying over it. The sun was just setting so the light was hitting the tips of the waves. Jarvis was actually right. It was relaxing. Melody actually began to have fun. "Can we fly over the city?" Melody asked Jarvis.

"Whatever you wish, Miss. Barnes."

They began to fly over, Melody taking joy in her bird's eye view of the place she grew up in. The people and cars looked so small from up in the sky and she could actually see the tops of buildings. She was never one to want the window seat on a plane. She just didn't care about what it looked like from high up, but now she never wanted to go back down. "You like the look of things up there?" Tony asked her.

Melody let out a bubbly laugh, forgetting all of her troubles, forgetting every bit of sorrow she had ever been introduced to in life, forgetting every single worry about the future and only focusing on the joy she felt in that moment. "It's amazing."

"You coming back down any time soon?"

Melody laughed and nodded even if no one could see her. "I'll be in the workshop in a sec."

"Take all the time you need."

Melody continued to glide around the city and ocean. She watched normal, everyday life. She touched the tips of the waves. She went right through clouds. It was a great time of peace for her. But once the sun went down, she knew she had to get back to the workshop. Unlike Tony, she actually got into the workshop through the garage door. When she moved over to the pad on the floor, it began taking off the suit, and once her mask was gone, Tony saw her smile. "That was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced."

Tony smiled at her once she stepped off the pad. "I knew you would love it and not do anything stupid like I would do."

Melody took a deep breath, thinking about it all over again. "Thanks."

He pulled her in for a hug as she was still reminiscing. That was one of the best moments of her life. "Anything for you, Mel."

* * *

The suit assembled around Tony as Melody watched. Once it was fully on, she looked to the camera she had set up on one of the computers, her face in a small rectangle on the bottom of Tony's screen. "You online?"

"Yeah." He answered quickly before flying out of the garage.

"Enjoy your flight." She told him like a cheery flight attendant.

In Gulmira, the town was being raided. People were being forced out of their homes, gunned down and tormented. One of the men who had taken Tony hostage was commanding all of it. A family was being taken out of their home together. The father had his arms around the mother and the children were being enveloped into a walking hug by the two parents. One daughter. One son. Suddenly, one of the terrorists ripped the father from the family and took him over to a stone wall with a gun to his head. The family began screaming, begging for him not to be killed when the son broke away from his family to try and save his father. The father tried to push him back as best as he could, but the terrorists got involved. They pulled the boy from the father and pushed him back to his family. They began beating the father as his family watched on in agony, then put a gun to his head as the children cried out for any type of mercy.

That's when Tony came in. He landed in front of one of the terrorists who had imprisoned him and bullets went flying instantly. It didn't even effect Tony, though. He threw one of the men back like a rag doll and blasted the next two with the thrusters in his hands. When he turned back to the others, they all had guns to innocent citizens. "Focus on all threats and blast." Melody instructed. Once he did as Melody said, the boy ran to his father still on the ground and gave him a huge hug.

Tony walked over to the wall the terrorist had imprisoned him was behind and stuck his arm through, ripping him out from behind the wall and throwing him down on the ground. Tony could have ended it easily right there, but thought of a better form of revenge. "He's all yours." He told the citizens as he began to fly into the air and then took off.

"Nice touch." Melody commented right before he was smacked to the ground with a Jericho missile. "Tony!" Melody yelled worriedly.

Tony picked himself up and looked to a tank which was sitting right in front of him. It sent another missile at him, but Tony dodged it. Before they could try to do any damage to him, he sent a missile at the tank, causing it explode. Tony flew above the rest of the terrorists as they shot him, but he just flew off, not before destroying Jericho missiles they had there, though. "I think this is a good day's work." Tony told her as he continued to fly.

"Are you still under the radar?"

"Melody," Tony began in a cocky voice. "No offence, but I got through school a lot faster than you." She rolled her eyes and looked down at her phone. "I think I know what I'm doing." She frowned when she realized Clint still hadn't called her. It was like he disappeared. Tony's phone began ringing, causing Melody to look up from her phone, giving Tony a worried look. "Hello?"

"Tony?" Melody's face lit up when she heard whose voice it was, knowing Tony was wrong.

Melody picked up a piece of paper and pen and began to write things down. "Who's this?"

"It's Rhodes."

Melody put up a paper reading: Still under the radar now? Tony gave her an annoyed look as Melody just gave him a bigger smile. "Sorry, hello?"

"I said it's Rhodes."

"Speak up, please."

"What in the hell is that noise?"

"Oh, I'm driving with the top down. Mel's here." Melody's eyes grew wide. She didn't want to be dragged into that at all. "Say hi, Melody."

She sighed deeply before saying, "Hey, Rhodey."

"Hey, Melody." Rhodey told her quickly before getting back into the situation. "Tony, I need your help right now."

"Funny how that works, huh?"

"Yeah." He told him, blowing off the jab. "Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive."

"Interesting." Melody spoke as Tony gave her a death glare in the camera.

"Well," Tony began, trying to come up with a good excuse. "That's a hot spot. Looks like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?"

"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?"

"I'm not. I was just jogging in the canyon."

Melody rolled her eyes. Tony had always been a crappy liar. "I thought you were driving."

"We were." Melody cut in while giving Tony an annoyed look. "We drove to the canyon where we're now jogging."

"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?"

"Nope." Tony spoke quickly.

"Okay, good because I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."

Suddenly, two jets came behind Tony, alarming both him and Melody. "That's my exit." Tony told Rhodey before hanging up.

Tony spun away from the jets quickly, but they continued to follow him. "Tony!" Melody scolded.

"I know!" He yelled back at her as he tried to fly as fast as possible. "Mel, start hacking into the Air Force computer system."

"That is so illegal." Melody commented as she turned to the computer, beginning to do it anyway.

A missile came out of one of the jets, going straight for Tony, but one of his missiles went at that one, making an even bigger explosion, sending Tony forward and temporarily damaging his suit. He fell through the air before his thrusters began working again, only for bullets to be shot off at him. "Melody!" Tony yelled at her. "How's the hack coming?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to hack into the United States Air Force?!"

"My life is kind of on the line here!"

"I'm working on it!"

"Deploy flaps!" Tony yelled to Jarvis.

The flaps in the suit deployed, sending Tony back and out of the sight of the two jets. "Grab on to one of the jets." Melody told him.

"Excuse me?!"

"They won't find you there quickly! It'll buy us time!" She yelled back. With a groan, he did as she said, hiding under the jet. Melody let out an angry yell as she hit the keyboard of the computer. "There's no way I can hack this fast enough to get them off your tail."

She pulled out her phone and began dialing, putting the phone on speaker. "What are you doing?" Tony asked her.

"Calling Rhodey."

"You sure that's the best option?" He asked as the phone began ringing.

"Do we have any others?!"

"Hello?" Rhodey asked.

"Hey, Rhodey." Melody answered in the calmest voice she could. "It's Tony."

"What?" He asked her confused.

"I'm sorry." Tony spoke. "It's me. You asked. What you were asking about is me."

"No," He spoke angrily. "See, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You too, Mel. Do you understand that?"

"This is not a piece of equipment!" Melody yelled at him with a voice filled with fear about what would happen to Tony.

"I'm in it!" Tony yelled at him. "It's a suit!" Rhodey's mouth dropped open from shock. "It's me!"

"Rhodey, you got anything for me?" They heard someone else ask over the line.

The jet Tony was under began rolling over to shake Tony off, alarming Melody. "Rhodey you have to do something." Melody demanded. "You have to stop this." Rhodey put the phone down without saying a thing. "Rhodey!"

When Melody looked back at the screen she saw Tony fly into one of the wings of the jet, taking it off. Melody gasped as her and Tony watched the jet flip around out of control. "Shit!" Tony cursed right before the pilot ejected himself.

"Please have a good chute." Melody whispered to herself. "Please have a good chute." He continued to fall and Melody could hear the panic from the room over the phone. "I think something's wrong with his chute." Melody told Tony.

"I have to help him." Tony hurried to catch up with the man following, putting his thrusters on full capacity. Once he reached the pilot, he yanked the handle to pull out the parachute, causing it to come out.

Melody let out a relieved sigh while closing her eyes with a smile on her face. All the excitement gave Tony the perfect time to fly away without being noticed. "Tony?" Rhodey came through the phone. "Melody? You still there?"

"Hey." Both Melody and Tony spoke at the same time. "Thanks." Tony told him.

Rhodey let out a laugh, just glad Tony was okay. "Oh, my god. You crazy son of a bitch. You owe me a plane. You know that right?"

They both laughed. "Yeah, well, technically he hit me."

"Now are you going to come by and see what we're working on?" Melody asked him tauntingly.

"No." He told them instantly. "The less I know the better. Now, what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Training exercise." Tony told him obviously. "Isn't that the usual BS?"

"It's not that simple."

"Isn't it?" Melody asked him. "See you later, Rhodey." She hung up before he got a chance to scold her, feeling it coming on.

It didn't take long for Tony to get home after that. "Did you see that?" Tony asked her excitedly when she stood up from her seat.

"Got a front row seat."

"I was awesome."

Melody rolled her eyes and turned around going to the pad on the floor where the machine was going to come out from the floor. "Let me actually teach you how to use this."

He moved over to stand on top of the pad, it recognizing him standing there instantly and coming out of the floor, lifting him in the air and slowly all the different arms began trying to take off the suit. Once the mask was off and Tony got a really good look at what was going on, he began struggling, making the machine work harder. "Hey!" He yelled at the machine.

"It's a tight fit, sir." Jarvis told him as Melody walked around, watching the machine struggle with Tony.

He continued to yell at the machine, causing Melody to roll her eyes. "The more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt and the longer it's going to take."

"Be gentle." He told her.

"I designed this to come off." Melody told him. "So if it's not, it's your fault."

"Please," Jarvis began. "Try not to move, sir."

"What's going on here?"

Melody froze at the sound of Pepper's voice. Both she and Tony turned slowly to see her confused and alarmed face. They both looked like children caught in the middle of doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. "Let's face it," Tony finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." Melody shrugged in agreement with the best smile she could manage.

Pepper looked at Melody and then Tony and then at the suit. She had no idea what that thing was and she had no idea what Tony and Melody were up to, but now she was going to find out. "Are those _bullet _holes?"

_**Next chapter I have it planned that we're going to find out why Clint was sent in. So as long as something doesn't drastically change, we're going to find out the big secret next chapter! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**_


	10. Can't Spell Obadiah Without Bad

Tony and Melody had spent that night telling Pepper everything, starting with Tony's time in Afghanistan. Pepper asked lots of questions like expected and they showed her how the suit came on, how it came off and how much Jarvis was running it. She didn't like it. Any of it. And they both knew it, but they had to get Pepper on their side. They both saw that justice had to be done after everything that happened and hoped that she would see that too.

The next day, Tony and Melody were repairing the minimal damage caused to the suit yesterday when Pepper walked in, causing Melody to stand up, ready to ask her to help her out with a little assignment. "Hey." Melody told her as she grabbed her hands with a smile. "You busy?"

"You mind if I send you on an errand with Mel?" Tony asked as he stood up and began wiping the grease off his hands next to Pepper. "I need you two to go to my office. You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests."

Pepper looked back at the two blankly, not understanding how they expected her to do this. Melody gave her a small smile at her face, holding up what they needed. "This is a lock chip. We don't have to do any of the work. This will do it all for us."

"It's probably under Executive Files." Tony told the two while looking away from them, kind of feeling bad for sending them to do this, but also knowing there was no way he could get into Stark Industries. "If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numerical heading."

"And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" She asked worriedly, now knowing that with all this new information, she was playing a completely different game.

"Same drill." He had moved back to the suit and began messing with things on the computer, trying to make it better in any way he could. "They've been dealing under the table and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."

"Tony," Pepper began carefully. "You know that I would help you and Melody with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."

"There is _nothing_ except this." He told her without turning from the designs he was making. "There is no art opening. There is no benefit." Tony turned around to look at her, giving her one of the most serious looks she had ever seen. "There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else."

"Is that so?" She asked while continuing to look at Tony. "Then I quit."

Melody felt like her heart sank to the floor as Pepper turned around to walk out. "You stood by my side for all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. And now that I'm trying to protect the people I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"

"You're going to kill yourself, Tony." She told him abruptly while finally turning around to look at them. "I'm not going to be part of it."

"I shouldn't be alive." He told her as he moved to sit down. "Unless it was for a reason."

Melody had to say something. She couldn't just have Pepper walk out of their life. "He's not crazy, Pepper." She shrugged as Pepper studied her. "He finally knows what he has to do and it's the right thing."

Pepper looked at Melody, knowing she was right. Knowing that no matter how dangerous this was, it was the right thing to do. "I know in my heart that it's right." Tony spoke from where he sat.

Pepper took a deep breath and walked towards Melody, putting out her hand for the lock chip. Melody smiled at her and put it in her palm. "You're all I have, too, you know." Pepper said while looking back and forth from Tony to Melody.

* * *

Clint had his packed bags in his hands as he walked towards the apartment door, leaving the now empty place. He was going on another mission for a few months. One that would take his minds off of the things that happened in Malibu. And he didn't want to come back for a long time. As he walked down the apartment steps, he ran into Coulson who was on his way to Clint's apartment. "We have a situation." He told him.

Clint shook his head as he moved past him for Coulson to only follow after him. "I don't want to be involved. I'm leaving. I'm giving Melody a chance and I don't want SHIELD to get in the way of that."

"Melody could be in danger." Coulson suddenly spoke, causing Clint to stop walking.

He stood there for a moment, thinking about her. She was no longer his assignment. He got all he needed, so this time if he was going to protect her, he was going to protect her for him. Clint turned around, taking a deep breath while studying him. "Where are we headed?"

* * *

Melody and Pepper hurried to Stark Industries and once they got there, they made sure no one saw where they were going. "Okay," Pepper began once she stepped in the office with Melody following. "No one should be coming here at this time of the day. We have about thirty minute's tops."

"We should get done in no time." Melody told her as she sat in the computer chair, plugging the lock chip into the port on the computer, letting it run its scan.

It found the ghost drive instantly just as the security breach warning went away. Different files came up, one of which looked to be bulk designs of Tony's suit. "Sector 16?" Pepper questioned as Melody shook her head with no idea. "What are you up to, Obadiah?" She whispered to herself when a video popped up on the screen.

There were men with their faces covered and guns in their hands, speaking in a foreign language. There was one man sitting in the middle of them with a bag over his face, unlike the others who used the covers as masks. When they took the bag off the man's face in the middle, they both saw it was Tony. Melody's mouth dropped as Pepper looked on. With shaky hands, Melody typed in: translate. "You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark." Melody and Pepper gave each other a worried look before turning back to the computer. "As you can see, Obadiah Stane-"

"Oh my god." They both whispered at the same time.

"Your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up."

Melody angrily pressed the button to get a copy of the video and all the files on the ghost drive onto the lock chip. She was going to get Obadiah for everything he had done to her family. Both Melody and Pepper watched eagerly as all the files duplicated when they heard, "So," They both jumped, looking over to see Obadiah at the front door. "What are we going to do about this?" Melody and Pepper gave each other a worried glance before looking back to Obadiah who was going to the drinks in the office, pouring himself a glass. "I know what the two of you are going through." He picked up the glass with the whisky in it and put it to his nose. "Tony," He purred out. "He always gets the good stuff."

Both Melody and Pepper forced a laugh as he poured his glass and Pepper covered the lock chip with a newspaper on the desk. When he began to walk over to them, Melody moved the cursor and set the computer to be on the screen saver. After that was done, they both turned to Obadiah casually, noticing he checked the screen before making eye contact with either of them. "I was so happy when he came home. It was like we got him back from the dead." Melody had so much she wanted to say to him in that moment. She really just wished that she was bigger than him so she could just kick his ass. "Now I realize, well, Tony never did come home, did he? He left a part of himself back in that cave. It breaks my heart."

"Well," Pepper began, knowing that Obadiah was just stalling the two. "He's a complicated person."

"He's been through a lot." Melody agreed while looking back to Pepper, the two nodding in agreement. Melody turned back to Obadiah, giving him a slight smile. "I think he'll be alright."

Obadiah looked at the two, still skeptical of their presence. "You two are very rare women." They both gave him their best fake smile even if all they wished was that their hands were around his neck. "Tony doesn't know how lucky he is."

"Thank you." Pepper told him as she got up and slyly pulled the lock chip out of the computer.

"We better get back there." Melody told him as she stood up and followed Pepper towards the door.

"Is that today's paper?"

They both paused for a second, but Melody reached forward and Pepper tilted the folded paper back, letting the lock chip slip into her hand. "Yes." She told him with a smile as she turned around.

"Do you mind?" He asked as he moved towards the two with his hand extended for the paper. Pepper smiled politely as she handed the paper to him. "The puzzle." He explained quickly.

"Of course." Melody spoke before they moved forward, trying to walk normally, not to tip him off more than he already was.

"Take care."

"You too." Melody called cheerfully as she briefly showed Pepper the chip and they continued to walk.

Once they got out of Obadiah's sight, they hurried down the steps, knowing Obadiah was checking the computer first thing. One thing they knew was that they needed to be in a public place. Obadiah wouldn't cause a scene and the lobby was the best place to be. They hurried down the steps when they heard, "Miss. Potts."

They both looked up to see Agent Coulson and Clint sitting on the black chairs. "What the hell?" Melody whispered once she saw Clint.

"They are the best people to be around right now." Pepper whispered back with clenched teeth.

"We had an appointment." Agent Coulson told her. "Did you forget about our appointment?"

"Nope." Pepper spoke as she continued walking and Melody grabbed Clint's arm, making him stand up and looping her arm through his. "Right now. Come with me."

"Right now?" Coulson asked as he got up from his seat and walked side by side with Pepper.

"We're going to have it right now. Walk with me."

"Okay." He said quickly while trying to keep up with her.

"What's going on?" Clint asked seriously, knowing Melody would probably refuse to look at him right now with their last meeting.

"I'm going to give you the meeting of your life!" Pepper told Coulson.

Melody looked back to see Obadiah watching them, knowing he knew everything just by the look on his face. Melody turned back quickly to see Clint about to turn around. She hit him in the abdomen. "Don't look!"

"What is going on?" He whispered to her.

"Obadiah sent the hit on Tony and he's making a suit." She explained quickly. Clint opened his mouth to say something when Melody jumped in. "Before you say anything, you have to tell me everything that has been happening since you got here and I mean everything."

Clint took a deep breath, before stepping in front of her, stopping her as Pepper and Coulson continued walking. "You want to know everything?" She nodded like it was obvious. "Okay, you need to help me stop Obadiah then. And you also need to tell me everything."

"No." She spoke in a cocky tone, taking a page out of Tony's book. "_You_ need to help _me_ stop Obadiah because you'd never be able to find out where he's doing all of this without me."

He rolled his eyes at her and made a hand gesture for her to go in front of him. "After you, Miss. Barnes."

* * *

Tony walked upstairs from the workshop to his phone ringing. He moved to it, looking around. It was now dark and he was starting to worry because Melody and Pepper weren't back yet. Once he picked up the phone, he saw that it was Pepper calling. He let out a relieved sigh, knowing they were okay. When he answered the phone, a loud high pitch sound was right next to his ear, making him instantly stiff. The phone was taken from his hand and he felt someone easing him down to lay on the couch. "Breathe." He heard Obadiah, trying to soothe him. "Easy, easy."

He laid Tony's head on the top of the couch with his head turned to the left, showing him the device. "You remember this one, right?" He cut off the device, taking out his ear pieces and looking at it admiringly. "It's a shame the government didn't approve it." Tony continued to look at it, feeling complete shock. "There's so many applications for causing short-term paralysis."

Obadiah sighed, moving out from behind the couch and standing in front of him, moving his face so he could look at him. "Tony," He moved to a briefcase he had set on the couch and pulled out something to extract the arc reactor. "When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose." He climbed up on the couch and began to take the arc reactor right out of his chest, and all Tony could do was watch miserably, learning that a man who had been like a father to him had ordered for him to die. "But, you see, it was just fate that you survived that." He pulled the arc reactor out with only the wires still connected, showing it to Tony. "You had one last golden egg to give."

Obadiah smiled at him as Tony continued glaring. "Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?" His face grew serious, a hatred clear in his eyes. "Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of a world would it be today if he was as selfish as you? And poor Melody," Tony's eyes grew wide at that. "I was going to make her CEO of Stark Industries because even though she has no blood relations to Howard Stark, she is still the best representation of him and the best person to carry on his legacy. But now she knows about what I did to you. I'm afraid she's going to have to die."

He ripped the wires out of Tony's chest as he gasped. He couldn't let Obadiah out of this house, knowing he would only make everything worse for everyone Tony cared about. Obadiah began to admire the arc reactor as Tony just stared at it, already feeling the effects of having it out of his body. "Oh, it's beautiful." He looked back to Tony, laughing. "Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony." He sat down next to him, leaning against him as he made them both admire the arc reactor. "What a masterpiece. Look at that. This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer this world back on course, put the balance of the power back in our hands. The right hands."

Obadiah pulled out the briefcase, putting the arc reactor in it. "I wish you could've seen my prototype. "It's not as…well, not as conservative as yours. Too bad you also had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred she lived." He turned to look back at Tony. "Gosh, you took away my heir and her new assistant. Such wastes of such good lives." Obadiah got up from where he was sitting once the briefcase was closed and walked out of the house, leaving Tony there to die.

* * *

The two walked through the underground parts of Stark Industries that hardly anyone knew about. Melody had just told him all about the suits and everything she found on the ghost drive. "Okay, Melody, I came here for a reason and I got close to you for a reason, but I want you to know while I'm saying all of this that I really did fall in love with you."

Melody stopped walking, turning to look at him. "You work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

He nodded as they continued to walk. "Yeah I do."

"Then what are you doing here and what exactly does your division want?"

Clint shrugged. "I don't know what they want with Tony, but I know what they want with you." Melody turned around, looking him in the eyes. "Melody, I'm your shadow agent." She gave him a confused face when Clint put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her forward. "Being a shadow agent means that I have to get close to you in some way and report everything that happens to you to the supervisor who sent me on that mission."

She turned around, stopping him again, getting angry. "_Who_ sent you to spy on me?"

He paused, knowing this was going to be a tough one. "Your mother." Melody's mouth dropped slightly, not knowing what to say to that. "She didn't just abandon you. She left for a reason. A reason your father knew, but never told you."

"Wait a minute," Melody began in a shaky voice. "My mother is-"

"An agent for our division and your father was the top scientist for our division." Melody stared at him, hoping he was lying to her. She was searching his face for any signs of lies, but couldn't find one. "You're an experiment, Melody." He told her sadly, knowing this would rip her apart. "You always have been."

"What experiment?" She practically spit out. She hated that she was called an experiment. That both of her parents knew this and just went along with it.

"To breed agents." Melody stared at him blankly, letting the fact that she had always been an experiment. She had been an experiment since she was born. "They want you, Melody."

Melody opened her mouth to say more when there was a loud, high pitched sound, causing them both to grow stiff, Clint toppling over and Melody fell on top of him. Obadiah came out of the shadows of the dark, damp underground with the device that would paralyze them both in his hand. When he cut it off, the two laid there helplessly, knowing there was nothing they could do. "It's nice." Obadiah commented about the device. "Isn't it?" He flipped Melody over on her back, letting the two just stare up at him. "I can't have the two of you getting in my way." He crouched down, moving a strand of hair out of Melody's face. "Little Melody, I had so many plans for you. I really wish you didn't get sucked into all of this. I really do think you would be a great CEO to Stark Industries." He sighed as he sat up. "That's too bad. I'm gonna have to kill you."

He pulled out a gun and shot her in the stomach, causing her body to jump, but she couldn't even feel it yet. That was the one good thing about being paralyzed. "No!" Clint yelled as he watched her hopelessly, trying with all his might to move his body so he could protect Melody, but it was no use. Clint looked back to Obadiah, breathing heavily from anger. "I'm going to kill you." He breathed out.

Obadiah let out a dark laugh, terrorizing Melody. This was someone she had known her whole life. He was someone she loved and hated that she still loved him even now. "No, you won't because you'll be as dead as your girlfriend." He shot Clint in the same spot he had Melody, her screaming this time. "You know," Obadiah began as they both looked down at the blood oozing out of their wounds. "The best part about finding you in the underground part is that no one can hear you screaming." He looked over at Melody. "I remember you playing down here when you were little. That's how I knew where you were headed."

"Wh-wh-what did you do with Tony?" Melody stuttered out.

He went through his jacket and pulled out the arc reactor that was in Tony's chest. Melody began screaming and crying out as Obadiah just smiled down at her. "He should be dead now and if not, he will be soon." Obadiah looked behind him, knowing he had to get to the suit. "I'll be back soon to finish the two of you." He turned around and began to head down the hall. "Try not to scream too much when the pain kicks in. It'll distract me."

* * *

Tony struggled to get to the workshop once the paralysis wore off. He could feel that he was dying, but he pushed himself. He had to make it to save everyone. He had to save Melody and Pepper. They were the only things on his mind as he fell to the floor and began crawling over to his counter. He pushed a board out of the way from when he and Melody were working on the car months ago. He moved past all the small, expensive and now no longer valuable things he surrounded himself with his entire life. None of it mattered anymore. Not even his own life. The only things that mattered to him now were Melody and Pepper. He reached up to the counter where the old arc reactor laid, courtesy to Pepper Potts.

Right when he almost had it, he fell over, and laid there for a moment, just letting the fact sink in that he was never going to be able to take care of Melody and Pepper. He prayed that they would be okay and knew that if he died, he would die worrying about them. He would die, knowing he failed them. A noise came from his right ear, seeing that Dummy was handing him the arc reactor. He gave the robot a slight smile, even feeling thankful for Dummy in that moment. "Good boy." He smashed the glass around the arc reactor with a small dose of relief passing over his body. He was coming for Melody and Pepper.

_**So I hope you liked the real truth about why Clint was sent in the first place. I hope it wasn't too obvious that it had something to do with her parents. I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Please review!**_


	11. Coulson to the Rescue

_**There will be a few more chapters after this one which does kind of leave off in a cliff hanger. Sorry, I just love them. And also, I'm sorry for the action scenes. I don't think I'm good at writing them at all. Enjoy!**_

Clint and Melody had their arms around each other, Melody leading the way to the huge arc reactor powering Stark Industries. "How do you know he'll be in there?" Clint asked with a pained voice, feeling the pain really kicking in now.

"It would be the only place he had his little monkeys work on making an arc reactor to fit a suit which they obviously didn't if he had to take it from Tony." Melody thought about how Tony was probably sitting in their house dead right now, causing her to fall down to her knees. "Shit." She put a hand to her wound, feeling the warm blood continue to pour out. "Oh, my god." She cried out. "It hurts so bad."

"I know." Clint said as he began to help her get back up. "But we have to keep going. Okay?" Melody nodded and put her arm around Clint's waist as he did the same to her. They limped on together, holding each other up.

* * *

"Tony?" Rhodey yelled once he burst through the house. There was no response, causing Rhodey to begin to panic. "Tony?" He hurried down the workshop steps, finding him lying on the floor with the old arc reactor in his chest. "Tony!"

He ran over to him, beginning to help him up, Tony gripping onto his shoulder for support. "Where is Melody and Pepper?"

"Pepper's fine. She's with five agents. They're about to arrest Obadiah."

"What about Melody?" He asked, his voice not as hoarse as before.

Rhodey shook his head, causing Tony's heart to drop. "Pepper lost her. I've been trying her cell, but she's not picking up."

"Those five agents aren't going to be enough." Tony growled out, thinking about all the threats Obadiah had given Melody. He just prayed that he didn't get to her yet. Rhodey helped Tony up and he automatically moved to the pad where he could put the suit on. "You ready to see my secret project?"

Rhodey watched as the suit began to assemble itself on Tony, locking him in as Rhodey circled with his jaw dropped. "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen."

"Not bad, huh?" Tony asked with a small smile, enjoying Rhodey's reaction. "Let's do it." He blasted one of the cars out of the way so he could go to the hole in the house that still wasn't repaired.

"Do you need me to do anything else?" Rhodey asked him.

Tony made the mask go over his face before requesting, "Keep the skies clear."

With that, Tony blasted off and flew through the sky as Rhodey continued to look up at him in awe. "Damn." He whispered. He looked behind him, about to walk out, when he was distracted by what looked like another suit that Tony was working on. He stared at it for a moment, thinking about Tony with the suit on and what he would look like with a suit on, but then shook his head, knowing he had to help find Melody. "Next time, baby." He promised himself.

* * *

Pepper and the agents drove up to the entrance of the building with the huge arc reactor in it, ready to stop Obadiah. "Anyone have a 20 on Barton and Barnes?" Coulson asked as he turned back to the other agents following him.

"No sir." One of the men answered. Coulson was honestly starting to worry, but he focused on what he had to do for the job in that moment.

Melody and Clint were limping through a secret door, leading from the underground sections of Stark Industries to the arc reactor room. "We made it." Melody whispered with her hand still on her wound.

"We need to find Coulson." Clint told her, now switching to a hop which was making him move faster.

Melody scoffed. Sure, Agent Coulson was resourceful, but Melody had never seen anyone get something they needed done faster than Pepper. "We need to find _Pepper_."

Pepper used her key to gain access into the room and she and all the agents began to search when they found a huge yellow door with "sector 16" on the handle of the it. "There it is." Pepper whispered.

"Pepper!" Melody yelled out in a hoarse voice, causing Pepper to turn around with wide, concerned eyes.

"Melody!" Pepper ran to her, seeing the blood staining her bright yellow shirt and panicking. "Oh, my god! What happened to you?!"

Melody shook her head, continuing to help Clint as Pepper took her hand, helping the two walk. "Get that door opened. We have to get Obadiah. Don't worry about me right now."

Pepper left Clint and Melody to the other agents as she moved up to the door pulling out her key card, but this time, it wasn't working. She turned to Coulson while throwing her hands in the air. "My key's not working. It's not opening the door."

Coulson put his hand out and one of the agents brought out a small bomb that would open the door. "Oh wow." Pepper said excitedly as she watched him go to the lock. "What's that? It's, like, a little device? It's, like, a thing that's going to pick the lock?"

"Pepper," Clint called from behind her. "You might want to step back."

Everybody turned around, Pepper and Melody putting their hands to their ears for the sound they knew was coming. Right when it blew, they all headed into the room, two agents now helping Clint and Melody walk. Further into the room, Obadiah heard the small bomb, knowing he had to get into his suit, quick.

Pepper, Melody, Clint, Coulson and all the agents began to walk through the extremely quiet hall. Pepper, Melody and Clint were forced to be in the middle of all the other agents, walking through and checking all entrances with their guns out. Melody was able to grab on to Clint's hand, holding it as tight as she could, already feeling weak from the amount of blood she lost.

They moved over to a silver suit sitting out in the open, everyone studying it. "Looks like you were right." Coulson told Pepper. "He was building another suit."

Melody shrugged, Obadiah wasn't the subtle type to have just a normal suit. "I thought it would be bigger."

They all began to spread out when Melody and Pepper noticed the loose wires hanging from what looked to be a display. "Something was plugged in here." Melody whispered with Clint following her.

"But what?" He asked her.

The chains around them began moving, only Pepper noticing it. She moved over to where the chains had started moving and stood there for a moment. All she could see was darkness. She thought that maybe she was being paranoid when glowing lights in the shape of eye holes broke the darkness and then raised even higher. Pepper screamed, causing Clint and Melody to turn to her. A huge suit came out from behind the hanging chains and began shooting at them. Clint dove in front of Melody, knocking her down and off the platform they were standing on as Pepper ran.

Melody didn't realize how high up she was until she hit the ground. She groaned a little from the hit on her head and rolled over to see Clint lying on his stomach. "Clint." She groaned out as she moved her hand to touch his back. He didn't move at all. "Clint." She tried again, but he still didn't move. Her breath grew quick as she got on her knees and crawled to him, turning him over. He now had two bullet wounds, blood now covered the majority of his shirt. "Oh, my god." Melody whispered as she moved her fingers down to his neck, trying to find a pulse. It was a weak pulse, but she was just happy that she found one. "We have to get you out of here." She whispered as she continued to hear guns being shot and people running around from upstairs. She stood up, and only thought to get Clint somewhere safe as she put her hands under his arms and began to drag him away.

* * *

Tony flew through the night, trying not to think of his emotions, just of what he had to do in that moment. "How do you think the Mark One chest piece is gonna hold up?" He asked Jarvis.

"The suit is at 48% power and falling, sir. The chest piece was never designed for sustained flight.

Tony sighed out, not liking his odds against Obadiah. "Keep me posted."

"Sir," Jarvis called out as Pepper's caller ID showed up on the screen. "Miss. Potts is calling."

"Answer it!" Tony told him urgently. "Pepper!" He answered the phone excitedly.

"Tony!" She answered back. "Tony, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He assured her quickly. "How are-"

"Obadiah, he's gone insane."

"I know. Listen, you better get out of there." He interrupted, but she just jumped right back into talking.

"He built a suit and I think he shot Clint and Melody."

"Get out of there right now!" He yelled, now panicking with the information that Melody had been shot.

Obadiah began to come out of the ground in his suit right behind Pepper. She looked up at him in utter fear, not knowing what to do in the moment. "What are you doing here?" Pepper began to look around. If she ran anywhere, she wouldn't be able to get past him. His suit was huge. "Your services are no longer required." He growled out as he moved his arm, getting the weapons that were already installed when Tony flew through just in time, knocking him away from Pepper and into the street.

Melody continued struggling to pull Clint out of the room, knowing the only way to get him out was through the main entrance of the building. She knew all the agents were either out of there by now or dead so she figured she was all by herself. Her vision began to blur, but she continued dragging Clint out, just getting him up the ramp to the corridor, leading them to the front of the building. "I need help." Melody cried out before falling down on her butt and accepting defeat.

She moved forward, wrapping her arms around Clint's head and putting her face to his cheek. If she was going to die here, she was going to die with Clint. She shut her eyes tight and felt herself beginning to relax when she heard, "You know, it's okay to ask for help sometime."

She looked up to see Coulson moving down to pick her up. "You have to get Clint out of here." She told him in a weak voice.

"I've got someone on it." He assured her. When she looked back she saw two agents picking him up from his shoulders and his feet, following her and Coulson. "We couldn't let the two of you die even if we wanted to." He told her. "Fury would have our heads."

"Fury?" She practically breathed out, feeling weaker than before. She wasn't sure if her confusion was coming from the blood loss or if she was actually confused, but none of the words he was saying made sense to her.

"It'll all make sense soon." He promised her just as they got outside.

"Melody!" She heard Pepper yell.

She looked over to see Pepper come running to her, giving her a slight smile. "She lost a lot of blood." Melody heard Coulson say, but her head was kind of just bobbling, not really knowing what to look at, just focusing on the dark sky and all the stars.

"Potts?" Tony's voice came through Pepper's ear piece as he landed on the roof of the building, causing Melody to look over with a small smile.

"He's alive? He's okay?"

Pepper gave her a reassuring smile as she pet her hair. "He's fine, sweetie."

"Is that Melody?" Tony asked hopefully. "Is she okay?"

Pepper looked to her, still looking off at the sky. "She'll be fine right now, but we have to get her to a hospital." Tony's heart fell, not wanting to imagine Melody in that much pain. He was supposed to protect her and he felt like he was doing a crappy job of it. "What's going on with you?" Pepper asked him, trying to get his mind back on what was happening right now. "Are you okay?"

Tony knew what she was doing and decided she was right. He had to focus on what was happening now. "I'm almost out of power. I've got to get out of this thing. I'll be right there."

Right when he took off his mask, Obadiah showed up right behind him, causing him to the put the mask back on. Tony put out his hand to blast him with energy when he realized he didn't have his suit hand on. Obadiah pushed him back and when he got back up, Obadiah just picked him up and began to squeeze him. "Weapon's status?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Repulsors offline. Missiles offline."

"Flares!" Tony yelled out desperately.

Tons of flares began shooting out all parts of the suit, blinding Obadiah, causing him to release Tony. "Very clever." Obadiah called out once he could see again.

Tony was hiding as Obadiah searched the roof they were on. "Potts?" He whispered, knowing she hadn't hung up yet.

"Tony!" Pepper yelled out, still worried about him.

Coulson had now set Melody down on the ground, putting pressure on her wound, the surviving agents doing the same to Clint. "This isn't working." Tony whispered. "We're going to have to overload the arc reactor and blast the roof."

"Well, how are you gonna do that?" Pepper asked him.

"You're going to do it." Pepper stood there for a moment, not sure she would be able to do this. Melody was bleeding out before her eyes. She didn't know if she was emotionally stable to do anything right now. "Go to the central console, open up all the circuits. When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know. You're going to hit the master bypass button. It's going to fry everything up there."

"Okay," She told him as she moved as fast as she could through the glass all over the ground. "I'm going in now."

"Make sure you wait until I clear the roof." He whispered just as Obadiah was getting closer to him. "I'll buy you some time."

Tony moved to get right behind Obadiah as Pepper opened up all the circuits, getting ready for Tony's command. Tony jumped on Obadiah's back, taking him by surprise by ripping out all of his parts. "This seems important!" Tony actually took away the view on Obadiah's screen.

Obadiah threw his hands around, finally finding Tony, throwing him over his head, Tony losing his mask as he landed right over the arc reactor. Obadiah opened up his suit so he could look at Tony with a smug smile. "I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit." He crushed Tony's mask in his hands and threw it right next to him. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony. You'd have made your father proud." Tony stood up as best as he could, knowing he had to keep going.

"It's ready, Tony! Get off the roof!"

Obadiah began shooting at him, getting the glass under Tony, almost making him fall through, and barely holding on as Pepper got a shower of glass. Obadiah continued to shoot, but Pepper waited. "How ironic, Tony!" Obadiah yelled as Tony continued to hold on. "Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever!"

"Pepper!"

"And now I'm going to kill you with it!"

Back on the ground, Melody was lying there with Coulson watching over her, feeling her breaths getting shallow. She felt like Coulson was a person who wouldn't lie to her and she felt like she could ask him anything. "Am I going to die?"

Coulson sighed while looking down at her and shook his head. "I hope not." Melody felt her eyes grow heavy and Coulson knew that he had to keep her talking until they could get her help. "I know your mom."

She looked him in the eye and nodded. "You work with her."

He nodded with a small smile. "That's right."

"Can I ask you another question?" He nodded while adjusting his grip on her, trying to change her settings in any way so she wouldn't get too comfortable and go to sleep. "Was I always just an experiment to her?"

Coulson looked down at her sadly as he shook his head. "No, Melody. And your parents didn't have to you just so you could be an experiment. Your parents love each other just as much as they loved you."

Melody nodded just as the arc reactor's light came out from the building, distracting them both. Right when the light disappeared, there was an explosion from the building just as Pepper got out of it. Tony was lying on the roof, his arc reactor barely flickering. Melody shut her eyes tight only hoping for Tony to be okay when she lost consciousness, her hand falling to the side, right by Clint's.


	12. I Am Iron Man

_**Only one more chapter after this one and then I'll put Iron Man 2 up. It shouldn't be long for me to start the second story which will be called Melody Barnes: Mamma Who Bore Me. So for those of you who don't follow me as an author can find it once it's up. Thanks for sticking with me, guys! Enjoy!**_

Tony was checked out by a doctor as Melody and Clint were wheeled into the ER. Tony could hardly focus on himself. Not after everything that happened with Melody. The doctors were shocked by his arc reactor and they wanted to keep him there to talk to him about it, but he refused. He had to see Melody.

When he tried to get to her room, they told him that he couldn't. That she wasn't ready. The doctors were still working on her. Tony sat down in the waiting room next to Pepper, not saying a word as they held hands. They both didn't know what they would do if they actually lost Melody. When Tony saw her unconscious body being put on the ambulance, it made his heart tighten. And as he sat in the hospital, he thought about the first time he saw her.

_It was a hassle getting into the hospital. The paparazzi hounded him ever since he parked his car. He hurried to the front desk, got help from a nurse he would probably give his number to later and went upstairs to the nursery. He was actually nervous about meeting his niece. He had no idea how to react around a baby. He never wanted children and had no experience with them, but he was going to have experience with this one. It was his niece and he knew that he was going to love her.  
_

_When he got to the window of the nursery, he saw James bouncing the little girl wrapped up in the pink blanket. He was so lost in the little girl's face, it made Tony smile. James had just happened to look up and spot Tony, signaling for him to come inside the nursery. Tony gave him a smile and opened the door to get inside. "Hey." James laughed out as he looked down at the baby._

"_What's new with you?" Tony joked._

"_I've got this baby girl." James told him just as he looked up. "And she's pretty awesome." The two laughed and James looked back down at the child. "It's so weird, man. You just get handed this baby after it's born and you don't know if what you're doing is right, but you just keep doing it because that's all you can do and you just wish she could talk and tell you that you're doing a good job." He looked back up at Tony and shook his head. "I'm talking too much."_

_Tony laughed and nodded. "Just a little bit, but I like it. I never thought you'd be a dad. You like it?"_

_James laughed as he nodded. "It's scary, but I like it." He looked down at the girl again. "And I love this child like crazy." He looked back to Tony and moved closer to him. "You want to hold her?"_

_Tony shook his head. "I don't think I'd be very good at it."_

"_I didn't either and look at me now. I can't put her down."_

_Tony sighed. He wanted to be close to his niece, but he didn't feel like he'd be good at handling a baby. He nodded and put his hands out. James gave him a few instructions before putting her in his arms and that was the first time Tony got a good look at the girl. She was gorgeous. She had Emily's bright blue eyes and blonde hair, growing in little curls at the top of her head. "Wow." Tony spoke as he looked down at her._

"_I know." James whispered._

"_I think I'm falling in love."_

"_I know." James told him proudly as he crossed his arms._

_Tony felt like the girl had a super power of making people fall in love with the little bundle of joy. "She's really quiet." Tony commented._

"_Yeah." James jumped in excitedly. "She, like, hardly ever cries."_

_Tony looked away from the girl to James who was still just staring at her. "Do you have a name?"_

"_Um," James looked up from the girl to look at Tony with a smile. "Em likes Melony."_

"_Ew." Tony told him right when he heard it. "Name her Melody."_

_James looked at him confused and shrugged. "What's the difference?"_

"_Melony is ugly and Melody is pretty."_

"_Fine." James said as he and Tony looked back down at the baby. "We'll name her Melody."_

_Tony laughed a little. "Did I just name your baby?"_

"_I think you did." James laughed out. "Em never finds out?"_

"_Promise."_

Tony let go of Pepper's hand and put his face in them, thinking about all the things that could go wrong with Melody. If anything happened to her, Tony didn't know if he would be able to live. A doctor came out and walked right toward him, Pepper nudging him so he could get up. "Mr. Stark?"

Tony nodded. "How's Melody? Is she okay?"

"She's doing fine." Tony let out a relieved sigh and smiled. "We gave her a blood transfusion and took the bullet out and she's responding well to the new blood. She's sleeping now. She also has a minor concussion, but she should be able to go home in a few days."

Tony smiled at the doctor as he shook his head. "Thank you so much. If anything happened to her, I'd lose my mind."

The doctor gave him a small smile and pat his back. "Anything I could do to help."

When he walked off, Tony turned to Pepper who he immediately pulled in for a hug. "She's gonna be okay." Pepper told him as she rubbed his back. "She's gonna be all right." Even though he knew Melody was going to be all right, he still felt like she was still in trouble. Like he had to see for himself that she was okay and he had to watch her like a hawk.

* * *

Melody woke up and immediately put her hand to her face, trying to pull out the wires attached to her. "No." She heard Tony's voice say as he grabbed her hand. Her eyes opened all the way to see Tony giving her a slight smile while looking down at her. "You kind of need those things in your nose."

"Tony!" She pulled him down into a hug as he just laughed while patting her back. "I'm so glad you're okay. Obadiah said that he took away your arc reactor."

"He did." Tony told her as he broke away from the hug. He looked behind him and Pepper stepped forward. "Thanks to Pepper for saving the first arc reactor." Pepper looked at him, giving him a bright smile as they stared into each other's eyes. "She saved my life."

Melody smiled at the two before Pepper broke away from the stare to look down at Melody. "I'm so happy you're okay." She told her before leaning down and giving her a tight hug.

Melody hugged her back as tight as she could manage, afraid that she would lose everyone in a heartbeat. "What happened?" She asked as she let go of Pepper and looked back to Tony.

He cleared his throat before looking back to her. He still felt partly responsible for all of this. "You lost a lot of blood so you had to get a transfusion and you have a concussion."

"They said you should be out of the hospital by tomorrow." Pepper told her excitedly.

"How long have I been in here?" Melody asked as she put her hand on her head, wondering just how long she had slept.

"Two days." Tony answered with a shrug, trying to show her it was no big deal.

Melody's eyes grew wide, her breath quickening. "What happened with Obadiah? Is he-"

"He's dead." Tony told her as he rubbed her shoulder.

Melody sat there for a moment, letting it all sink in. Obadiah had been a huge part of her life. He was a part of her family and then he just turned on them. She was glad he was dead, but at the same time she felt this sadness that she couldn't shake off. Then another emotion kicked in. "Clint." She spoke quickly while looking up to Tony and Pepper with panicked eyes. "What happened to Clint?"

The sound of a curtain being opened up quickly came from behind her where she saw Coulson standing next to Clint in his bed. Clint picked up his bandaged hand and waved it. "Hey, Mel."

She smiled at him, giving him a little wave. "He needed a blood transfusion like you." Coulson told her. "And he broke his hand, but he should be fine by tomorrow too."

Melody gave Clint a small smile, just glad that he was okay. "Maybe we should give these two some space." Pepper advised as she pulled on Tony's arm and motioned for Coulson to step out. "Who wants coffee?" Pepper asked as she got the two men out of the room. "It's on me."

When the door closed, it was just Melody and Clint. They were looking at each other in their hospital beds in silence. "Thank you." Clint finally spoke as Melody looked to him with a confused face. "For saving my life back there."

She shook her head and gave him a small smile. "Why wouldn't I save your life?"

He shrugged with a playful smile tugging at his lips. "I don't know. Maybe because I told you a huge secret that would leave you very emotional."

She shook her head at him. "It's not your fault that I'm an experiment." She laid back into her bed when a thought occurred to her. "It's not your fault, is it?"

Clint laughed as he shook his head. "No, it is not my fault."

She smiled at him while nodding. "Good."

"Mel," He began, his face growing serious. "What is going to happen with us?"

Melody studied him for a minute and then looked away, looking straight at the ceiling. "Clint, I've loved you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life, but…"

She looked over to him and he nodded, knowing what she was going to say. "You don't trust me."

She shook her head while throwing her hands up. "How can I after everything that happened?" She sighed sadly and shook her head. "You lied to me since the moment we met. Were you even in the Army?" He sighed and shook his head. Melody looked back to the ceiling and took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be one of the hardest things she had to do. "I love you, but I don't even know who you are."

Clint nodded while looking away from her as a tear fell down the temple of Melody's head. "I love you." Clint told her. "And I know you need the time to know you can trust me again." He looked back to her, noticing she was still staring at the ceiling. "Melody," She looked back to him as another tear fell out of her eye. "I will wait for you."

She shook her head. "I can't make you do that."

"I _want_ to do that." He looked up at the ceiling again, taking a huge breath. "You don't understand what it's like when a marriage fails. You put so much of your life into one relationship and it doesn't even work out. You feel like you've wasted so much time." He looked back to Melody, giving her a small smile. "I don't want to waste any more time on the wrong girl when the right girl is taking her time to figure things out." Melody wanted to be with Clint. She wanted to be with him so bad, but she knew she shouldn't. She had to figure a lot of things out before she was with Clint again. But she knew that they would always be waiting for each other. Because he was the right guy. And she was the right girl.

* * *

Happy dropped Tony and Melody off at the house so they could get changed quickly before the press conference where Tony had to explain everything. As Melody pulled on shorts and a new button up shirt that wasn't bloodstained, she saw the letter from her father sitting on the nightstand. She slowly moved towards it and took a deep breath before ripping it open and reading.

_My Dearest Melody,_

_As you know now, my condition has gotten worse and the doctors believe that I don't have long. Tony suggested that I write to a future you for all the milestones in your life that I won't be there for and this one is for your college graduation. I knew you were smart enough for this. Your mother and I made a deal that on the day of your graduation that we were going to tell you everything about why she left._

Melody continued reading, the letter explaining SHIELD and how she was an experiment, but none of it explained why her mother left. There were notes of her as a child about the possibility of her becoming an agent, making her angry beyond words. Once she first got this letter, she thought that it was going to be long and heartfelt. She thought it was going to be her father writing his heart out on how much he loved her, but it wasn't. It was data. Showing further of the fact that she was an experiment and always had been.

_I know you'll be angry. You'll probably rebel. You'll probably say you hate me and your mother, but I would take it all, knowing that you now know the truth about who you are. I also want you to know that you were never just an experiment. You were my daughter before I agreed to the project._

_I hope now that you've graduated that you'll do something amazing with your life, but I also hope that you do something you absolutely love. I wish I could be there to explain it all in person and to watch you walk across the stage while you got your diploma. Know that no matter what you think about this entire thing, that I love you with all my heart and I wish I could be there for everything amazing that you do in your life. I hope these letters help and I hope you find your mother if you haven't meet already._

_Love, Daddy_

Melody sat there for a moment with the letter in her hands, not knowing what to do. One thing she knew was that she had to pull herself together. She took a deep breath and with shaky hands put the letter back on the nightstand. She stood up and moved to her vanity mirror, cleaning up the small tears that were still on her face. "Hey," She heard Tony's voice from the doorway, causing her to jump. "We gotta go."

She turned to face him and tried to move pass him, but he grabbed her shoulders, stopping her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and tried to move pass him again. "Nothing's wrong."

"No." He told her as he pulled her back. "Something is very wrong. I can see it all over your face."

"Just drop it." She practically yelled at him, this time pushing past him. Tony stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Melody was changing. She had been for a few days now and it wasn't a change for the better.

* * *

They all waited in the back room for the press conference to start when Clint walked through the door. "What are you doing here?" Melody asked him as he walked right up to her. "I thought you were leaving for a mission."

He gave her a smirk. "You really think that I'm going to miss this press conference. She rolled her eyes and looked back to Tony who was reading the paper as Pepper finished his make up.

"'Iron Man,'" He looked up to Clint and Melody, turning the paper around so they could look at it. "It's kind of catchy, isn't it, Clint?"

He shrugged causing Melody to give him an eye roll. "Don't make his head any bigger than it already is." She whispered to him.

"It's got a nice ring to it." Tony continued, ignoring her comment. "I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery anyway."

"Here's your alibi." Coulson told him as he handed him blue index cards. When Tony took it, he looked kind of depressed. "You were on your yacht. We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from fifty of your guests."

"See," Tony began as he looked down at the index cards. "I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me alone on the island."

Clint let out a little laugh as he looked down, causing Coulson to look back at him unapprovingly. Clint waved his hand in an apology, making Melody smile even more. Coulson looked back to Tony, giving him a smile. "That's what happened. Just read it word for word."

Tony began to flip through the cards, but furrowed his eyebrows as he read. "There's nothing about Stane in here."

"That's being handled." Coulson told him. "He's on vacation."

"Small aircraft have such a poor safety record." Clint told him with a shrug.

"But what about the whole cover story that it's a body guard?" Tony asked Coulson. "He's my…I mean, is that…that's kind of flimsy, don't you think?"

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark." Coulson answered with a polite smile. "Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you. You've got 90 seconds."

"Agent Coulson," Pepper called as he moved towards the door. Melody and Clint both followed her, Clint for Coulson and Melody for Pepper. "I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help."

Coulson smiled at her as Clint and Melody were staring at each other with small smiles on their faces. "That's what we do. You'll be hearing from us."

Melody nodded as she looked over to Coulson. "From the Strategic Homeland Intervention-"

"Just call us SHIELD." Clint told her as she looked back to him.

She nodded while giving him a small smile. "SHIELD."

The two walked out and Melody watched them, leaning against the door as she watched him walk away. "Why?" She asked as Pepper laughed at her. "Why do I need to fall in love with a top secret agent of a top secret government division who only got close to me because I was an assignment?"

Pepper put her hands on Melody's shoulders, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Why don't you go find a seat?"

Melody walked out of the room and into the lobby where the press conference was being held. Reporters sat around Rhodey who was finishing up his speech as Melody sat down next to Happy who was watching in the back row. They smiled at each other and when Melody looked forward, she caught Clint staring at her from where he was standing with Coulson. She gave him a shy smile before looking back to Rhodey, her eyes finding their way back to Clint. "And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you."

Pepper sat down next to Melody as Tony went up in front of the podium. Once he got up there, he looked at all of the flashing cameras, thinking about the lie he was about to tell them. "Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." Everyone let out a light laugh as he pulled out the blue index cards. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop-"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Melody rolled her eyes once she heard the voice. "But do you honestly expect us to believe that was a bodyguard that conveniently appeared despite the fact that you-"

"I know it's confusing." He cut her off. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

"I never said you were a superhero." She jumped in quickly with a smug smile.

"Didn't?" She shook her head as she looked up at him, a smile still on his face. "Well, good, because that would be outlandish and…fantastic."

"What is he doing?" Pepper whispered in Melody's ear.

All Melody could do was smile. She knew exactly what he was doing or more of what he was going to do. "I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public."

Rhodey moved forward, leaning into his ear to whisper, "Just stick to the cards, man."

Tony nodded to Rhodey and looked back to the crowd. "The truth is..."

Tony paused. If he said what was on those cards, he wouldn't be telling the truth. Why should he keep it a secret? Because of SHIELD? What were they gonna do to him? Who were they to tell him what he can and can't do? He was Tony Stark and he was going to be a superhero. "Come on, Tony." Melody whispered, feeling an anger towards SHIELD and that reporter up front and everyone who had ever done them wrong. She was sick and tired of being the innocent girl everyone walked over. She was tired of all the bullshit. "Stick it to them."

"I am Iron Man."


	13. Epilogue

When Clint got to Washington DC, he knew the first thing he had to do was talk to the supervisor of his previous assignment. When he got to her office, he knocked on the door lightly before opening it.

Emily Barnes was sitting at her desk in her pristine work clothes on her computer, typing away. She looked up at him, giving him a smile. "Agent Barton," She spoke in her English accent before looking back to her computer. "Do you have the report for me?" He handed her a file which she took. "How is my daughter?" Emily questioned, thinking about how small her daughter was the last time she saw her in person.

"Honestly," Clint began with a shrug. "She's really pissed at you."

Emily sighed as she flipped through the files. "Well, we knew that was going to happen."

"I assume that I'm in the next phase of your plan."

Emily shook her head as she looked up at him. "You're not. Thank you, Agent."

Clint stood there for a moment, thinking about what he just told her. "You better find room for me in the next stage of your plan."

"Actually," Emily began as she looked up at him. "You're in the next phase of Fury's plan, but not _my_ plan with Melody."

"What exactly is your plan with Melody?" Clint questioned.

"I'm going to make her an agent." She told him.

Clint shook his head as he laughed. "She'll never go with that."

"And how do you know?"

"Because I just spent months getting close to her, learning everything about her-"

"And falling in love with her?" Clint stopped, shocked that she knew that. "Oh, come on, Clint. It's all over your face."

Clint threw his hands in the air as he sighed. "Yeah, I'm in love with her, but what exactly is your plan with Fury involving Melody and Tony and me?"

"You forgot Natasha and Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers and anyone else we see fit for the project."

"_What _is it?" Clint asked, finally losing his temper with her. He was just glad that Melody was nothing like Emily.

She sighed and picked up a pen, beginning to play with it. "I'll put you in the next phase of my plan if you do me one favor." Clint nodded, he would do anything to see Melody again. "Don't tell Melody about Fury and I's plan for all of them." He nodded and Emily curled her finger, telling him to get closer. She told him all about the Avenger Initiative, leaving Clint shocked.

* * *

Tony and Melody gave Pepper and Happy the day off. With all of the mayhem of yesterday and all the press trying to get something, anything on "Iron Man", they needed a day to just be a their homes and relax. "Jarvis!" Tony yelled as he and Melody came back from getting pizza. "I'm starved." He told Melody as he took the pizza out of her hands."

"Welcome home, sir." Jarvis announced as Tony and Melody continued their bickering.

"'I am Iron Man.'" They both jumped at the sound of someone else in their house and looked to see a man in a long, black leather jacket with an eye patch covering his left eye. "You think you're the only superhero in the world?" Tony and Melody looked at each other worriedly, both looking to where the guns were kept if the situation got out of hand. "Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."

"Who the hell are you?" Tony finally asked, looking away from Melody.

The man stood up, moving to them, both of them taking a step back the closer he got. "Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD."

Melody looked over at Tony, nervously. "Is that supposed to make us feel better after everything that just happened?"

He blinked, trying to ignore her comment. "I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

_**Melody Barnes: Mama Who Bore Me is coming soon!**_


	14. Melody Barnes: Mama Who Bore Me

The new story is now up, guys!


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